Matthew Sluka decided to sit out as $100,000 remains unpaid

Matthew Sluka reportedly feels that he can’t continue to play for a school that hasn’t honored its commitments.

UNLV, a team enjoying its best start since 1984 and hoping for a playoff spot, has been hit with a major setback. Their starting quarterback, Matthew sluka, a senior transfer from Holy Cross, has decided to leave the team mid-season because Matthew Sluka was reportedly promised $100,000 as part of an NIL deal when he committed to UNLV, but deal was only verbal. No paperwork was formalized. According to sources, this verbal agreement was based on trust and discussions between Sluka’s camp and the UNLV coaching staff. However, the university claims they couldn’t formalize the deal until Sluka enrolled, which didn’t happen until July.

Matthew Sluka’s decision to leave comes as a shock, especially considering UNLV’s promising start to the season. The team is currently 3-0, marking their best opening in nearly 40 years, and Sluka has played a pivotal role in their success. Despite winning the quarterback competition and leading the team to these victories, the underlying issue of his NIL deal remained unresolved. According to reports, Sluka and his representatives tried to work out the agreement over the past few weeks, but the final offer from UNLV was far below expectations—less than 15% of what had been verbally promised.

According to some sources when Matthew Sluka initially committed to UNLV, the university indicated that they could not formalize a contract until after he enrolled. This is not an uncommon practice in college football, where NIL agreements can often be subject to various timing and enrollment requirements. However, even after Sluka enrolled and began performing on the field, no written contract was executed. This led to growing frustration on Sluka’s part, as the promised financial compensation remained out of reach.

UNLV’s final offer was around $3,000 per month for the next four months, which equates to a fraction of the $100,000 Sluka believed he was going to receive. The situation reached a breaking point when UNLV’s offer amounted to just 15% of the verbal promise. Sluka’s camp, realizing that they were unlikely to get the full amount, reportedly tried to negotiate a middle ground, but even those efforts were unsuccessful. Ultimately, Sluka made the difficult decision to leave the team, putting UNLV in a challenging position as they head into a key conference game against Fresno State.

Former college quarterback and ACC Offensive Player of the Year Danny Kanell weighed in on the broader implications of this situation, noting that this is a symptom of a much larger issue in college football. The NIL system is still relatively new, and as such, it is riddled with inconsistencies and loopholes that allow situations like this to unfold. Kanell emphasized that verbal agreements and handshake deals often leave both players and universities vulnerable, as there are no formal protections in place. This lack of structure can lead to disputes, as is evident in Sluka’s case, and both sides end up suffering as a result.

The timing of Sluka’s departure couldn’t be worse for UNLV. The team is 3-0, with two of those wins coming against Power Five opponents, Houston and Kansas. They are on the verge of cracking the top 25 and are in a strong position to compete for the Mountain West Championship. With Fresno State looming, the loss of their starting quarterback throws their season into uncertainty. In addition, this public dispute between Sluka and the university has now turned into a PR battle. UNLV’s collective is adamant that no official offer of $100,000 was made, while Sluka’s camp maintains that the promise was made by someone on the coaching staff. At best, this situation highlights a significant communication breakdown within the program.

For Matthew Sluka, this situation has been framed as a matter of principle. He reportedly feels that he can’t continue to play for a school that hasn’t honored its commitments. His camp has compared the situation to any other job in America—if someone was promised compensation for their work and that compensation wasn’t delivered, they would be within their rights to leave. Sluka’s departure, however, has sparked a wider conversation about the current state of NIL deals in college football. Many believe that the system needs to be reformed to ensure that both players and universities are held accountable and that verbal agreements are backed by formal contracts to avoid future conflicts.