"It's just going to be under the table": Dan Patrick red flags flaws in salary cap model after Deion Sanders' bold remarks at Big 12 media days

At Big 12 Media Days in Dallas on Wednesday, Colorado coach Deion Sanders made a strong case for big changes in how money is handled in college football. It was his first public appearance since April, after being away for private health reasons.

Sanders said college football is starting to look more like the NFL and needs rules like the NFL has, especially a salary cap.

"I wish there was a cap," Sanders said during a Big 12 coaches' roundtable. "Like, the top-of-the-line player makes this, and if you're not that type of guy, you know you're not going to make that. That's what the NFL does.

"So the problem is, you got a guy that's not that darn good, but he could go to another school and they give him a half million dollars. You can't compete with that. And it don't make sense."

However, on Thursday's "The Dan Patrick Show," sportscaster Dan Patrick disagreed with Sanders’ vision, saying that attempts to regulate spending would likely push compensation back underground.

“Yeah, this is no secret,” Patrick said (Timestamp: 0:45). “There is a salary cap, but that doesn’t stop, you know, collectives or boosters from getting money. It’s just going to be under the table. It’ll be back to the way it was years ago when you paid people under the table. You got NIL, but that doesn’t matter.

"You can pay through NIL … there’s way too many windows.”

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Deion Sanders mirrored Dan Patrick’s views on Wednesday

Deion Sanders shares Dan Patrick’s concerns as well, noting the blurred lines and backdoor dealings that continue in the system, even with the approval of the $2.8 billion House vs. NCAA settlement in June. This settlement will now allow for programs to directly pay athletes up to $20.5 million annually beginning in the 2025-26 school year.

"I wish it was truly equality," Sanders said during the roundtable session. "Now they go back to doing stuff under the table. They go back to the agents. Now you've got parents trying to be agents, you've got the homeboys trying to be agents, you've got the friends trying to be agents.

"You got a lot of bull junk going on. And quite frankly, we're sick of it. I'll say it for everybody: We're sick of it."

In Deion Sanders' view, only a fully transparent and regulated structure, one where payments are clearly accounted for, can correct the competitive imbalance.