Quinn Ewers reportedly signs $1M+ autograph deal

Quinn Ewers is now at Ohio State, and the line forms to the left to get in business with the Bleached Blonde Bomber. 

He has an equity stake in Holy Kombucha, which was the impetus for him leaving Southlake Carroll five months early. 

He's romping around Columbus in an enormous F-150.

And now he'll reportedly get to do so with some major cash in his pocket.

According to multiple reports Tuesday, Ewers has signed a deal worth up to $1.4 million to sign autographs.

That's big boy money. At 18 years old, Ewers has earned more money than many Americans learn in a lifetime. 

But now that Ewers is participating in the economy, big-boy questions apply. First, what is the autograph market for a quarterback who doesn't play? It may be robust today -- I have no interest in a college backup's autograph, but then again I don't care much about anyone's autograph -- but what will it be if his situation's the same a year from now? Two years from now? 

Ryan Day has named CJ Stroud his starting quarterback for No. 4 Ohio State's opener with Minnesota on Thursday. And while no one could reasonably expect Ewers to start less than a month into his college career, he may not even be the backup either, with 5-star freshman Kyle McCord (the QB in Ohio State's 2021 class until Ewers reclassified) and 4-star redshirt freshman Jack Miller holding incumbency advantage over him. 

It's far, far, far too early to glue Ewers to the bench for the remainder of his Buckeye career... but it's not as if anyone can bank on Stroud giving the QB1 job back any time soon. 

Since Day's 2017 arrival, Buckeye quarterbacks have thrown a collective 160 touchdowns against 26 interceptions on 8.9 yards per attempt. Stroud was a near 5-star recruit in his own right, the No. 2 pro-style quarterback in the 2020 class. 

How high is the bar Ewers will have to clear to unseat Stroud if he completes 70 percent of his throws for nine yards an attempt with 35-ish touchdowns as Ohio State wins the Big Ten and makes the Playoff -- you know, an average season for a Ryan Day quarterback? How many backups unseat their starters? Ohio State's recent history is its own living proof -- everyone at Georgia knew how talented Justin Fields was, but even then his obvious talent didn't justify benching Jake Fromm when he was fresh off leading Georgia to the national title game as a true freshman. Now that cleat's on the other foot in Columbus. 

Ewers hasn't even been in Columbus for a month, so projecting anything beyond this season is foolish. Stroud could win the Heisman this December, or he could tweak his foot getting off the bus in Minneapolis and never play a meaningful snap in scarlet and gray. In the meantime, Ewers' NIL earnings are already well into seven figures and climbing. 

The Ewers family's bet on Quinn's NIL market has undoubtedly paid off in the short term, as if there was ever any doubt it would. But it remains an open question if the Ewers camp prioritized Quinn's short term opportunities at the expense of the true prize: a 9-figure NFL contract and all that entails.