One of the most consistent pieces of advice I gave to families during the first wave of NIL was simple: do not sign anything without an attorney reviewing it first. That advice has not changed. What has changed is the scale of the contracts being signed and the speed at which families are being asked to make decisions.

I have been in rooms where a brand wanted an answer the same day. I have seen agents push families to sign before they had time to read what they were agreeing to. And I have watched families sign contracts that contained terms they did not understand — terms that came back to cost them later.

This post is not legal advice. But it is the honest conversation I have with every family before they sit down at a table with a brand, an agent, or a university.

What a NIL Contract Actually Is

A NIL contract is a legally binding agreement between your athlete and another party — a brand, a business, a university booster collective, or an individual. When your athlete signs it, they are agreeing to specific obligations in exchange for specific compensation. Every word in that document matters, and the other party's team has already reviewed it carefully before it landed in front of you.

What Every Contract Should Clearly State

Before your athlete signs any NIL agreement, the contract should clearly answer all of the following. What exactly is the athlete being paid to do, and how many times? Over what period of time does the contract apply? What happens if the athlete transfers, loses eligibility, or gets injured before fulfilling the obligations? Who owns the content created under the deal — the athlete or the brand? Is there an exclusivity clause, and if so, what categories or competitors does it cover? How and when will payment be made, and what triggers the payment?

If any of those questions are unclear in the contract, that is not a minor detail. That is a problem that needs to be resolved before anyone signs.

Exclusivity Clauses Deserve Special Attention

An exclusivity clause restricts your athlete from working with competing brands or in competing categories for the duration of the contract. This sounds reasonable until you realize that a broad exclusivity clause can block your athlete from signing other deals they did not even know were coming.

A wide receiver who signs an exclusivity deal with a local sporting goods store in August might find themselves locked out of a better deal with a national brand in October. The first brand paid three hundred dollars. The second would have paid thirty thousand. Read every exclusivity clause carefully and make sure its scope is narrow and specific.

What Should Give You Pause

Walk away from any agreement that pressures your family to decide immediately. Legitimate opportunities do not disappear because you asked for 48 hours to have an attorney review the terms. Any agent or brand that tells you there is no time for a review is showing you something important about how they operate.

Be cautious of contracts with vague performance language, broad image rights that extend beyond the term of the deal, or clauses that give the brand control over your athlete's social media without clear boundaries. Be especially cautious of any agreement that does not specify what happens if your athlete's eligibility status changes.

The Tax Reality Nobody Mentions at Signing

Every NIL payment is taxable income. The brand is not withholding taxes. Your athlete will receive a 1099 form and will owe self employment taxes on everything they earn. Before the first deal is signed, your family needs to know what percentage of each payment to set aside, whether quarterly estimated payments are required, and what business structure makes sense for your athlete's situation. These are not afterthoughts. They are part of the contract conversation.

"Do not sign anything without an attorney reviewing it first. That advice has never failed a family I have worked with." — Marty McNair

Your Family Deserves Representation

The brand has a legal team. The agent has experience. The university has counsel. Your family deserves someone in its corner too — someone who is not earning a commission on the deal and whose only interest is making sure your athlete is protected. That is what we do. And it starts with a conversation before anyone picks up a pen.