Deion Sanders proposes paying College Football Playoff players directly instead of conferences

Deion Sanders said he ‘wishes that college football had a salary cap.’ Jason McIntyre says that CFB is ‘pay-to-play’ and discusses whether there should be a salary cap.

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders revealed his bold idea for the College Football Playoff (CFP) that no one has brought up, and it doesn’t involve the format.

It’s about paying the players.

"Coach Prime" suggested paying the players for making the CFP and paying them extra if they advance.

"Now, it’s equality. Now, it’s even, and every player is making the same amount of money," Sanders said in an interview with The AssociatedPress.

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Head coach Deion Sanders of the University of Colorado speaks about his journey beating bladder cancer during a press conference at the Touchdown Club at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo., July 28, 2025.  (AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

That interview also involved college football coaching legend Nick Saban as part of their new Aflac commercial. Saban has been vocal about getting college sports on the right path in this new name, image and likeness (NIL)-fueled era.

While a commissioner of college sports was floated, Saban said he wants no part of that.

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"I don’t want to be in that briar patch of being a commissioner, but I do want to do everything I can to make it right," he noted.

Both coaches say more structure is needed, though, because schools have the ability to make players millionaires with NIL deals, and schools can pay up to $20.5 million each to their athletes over the next year.

Sanders referred to NIL deals as a joke, saying "there are only three or four guys who you might know their NIL,