The "college payoff" for Cam Newton refers to the scandal surrounding allegations that his father shopped him to Mississippi State for a $180,000 payoff, which the NCAA investigated in 2010. While this initial investigation led to a temporary suspension for Newton, the NCAA ultimately cleared Auburn University of any wrongdoing, finding no evidence that the school was involved in a pay-for-play scheme and concluding the investigation with no major violations.
That's off Google AI.
For fun: today, Arch Manning at Texas is getting around $6.8mm and Carson Beck/Miami is getting $4mm (with incentives that might take him to $6mm).