It’s transfer season, folks! The cash flow is likely to accelerate than the other time of the year, isn’t it? Right now, it’s one college football HC who has been turning heads with how he has opened the door of his fortune reserve, and that’s none other than the Auburn Tigers HC Hugh Freeze.

Amidst programs locking in players, Freeze landed the former Georgia Tech wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr. Well, to land him, the Auburn HC had to beat big shots in the race. Here’s when his lucrative package for Jr. came to help. The NIL insider has the answer behind Freeze’s bold move. 

ACC NIL Collective spills the truth about Hugh Freeze’s move

Eric Singleton Jr.’s suitors’ list has been pretty long. Freeze won over the LSU Tigers, Texas Longhorns, Miami Hurricanes, and Ole Miss Rebels. The Tigers made the biggest splash with reportedly over $1 million in NIL money. After all, Singleton Jr. has kept the ceiling at $1 million in NIL. Why wouldn’t he? After all, the craze to land him has been real as he came off as the leading receiver in both the 2023 and 2024 seasons. His stats- combining for 104 receptions, 1,468 yards, and nine touchdowns in his two-year Georgia Tech career must have caught Freeze with some FOMO feels.

Now we are aware of the stats and what Jr. is going to bring to the table in Auburn. Here’s the story behind Freeze’s hefty package. In a poll for “What was the hardest position to add to a roster?” the answers varied. But the ACC NIL Collective’s answer seems to justify the Tigers HC’s move. According to them, adding the WRs did give them a hard time. “You’re paying three times what a top wide receiver got two or three years ago. LSU got a really good value on Kentucky wide receiver [Barion Brown]. He got $750,000.” They then turned the spotlight towards Auburn.

The ACC NIL collective noted, “And then Eric Singleton at Auburn is a number we’ve never seen.” That’s because earlier programs were only willing to squeeze that extra money for the quarterbacks and not the wide receivers. Now what made Freeze shell out such a hefty amount? Given his experience and past production, Singleton Jr.’s boarding Auburn’s receiver room in 2025 draws comparisons to KeAndre Lambert-Smith’s in 2024. Even though the WR is shorter than Smith at 5’11”, his athleticism makes him dangerous as a jump ball target. While with Jr.’s addition, Freeze’s WR room looks sorted, another position demands attention.

Can Hugh Freeze handle the QB overload?  

It’s the quarterback room. It would definitely make you come up with one question for Freeze – “Are too many cooks spoiling the broth?” The HC has already become a laughing stock after signing Jackson Arnold. Arnold got benched in the middle of the season in favor of Michael Hawkins Jr. in Oklahoma. Plus, last season he came up with just 1,421 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, and just three interceptions. But that did not stop Freeze from experimenting.

The HC then tried his luck with the George County five-star quarterback Deuce Knight. Now this might be leaving the fans scratching their heads in confusion. After all, moving into the 2025 season, Auburn has four new quarterbacks. Ashton Daniels, Tanner Bailey, Knight, and Arnold. This act did bring Freeze a lot of side eyes. 

Analyst Zac Blackerby pointed fingers at the HC, “I want as many five-star quarterbacks on the roster as possible. But it’s just that can you keep three five-stars on the roster at the quarterback position?” However, we might not forget that Hugh Freeze got desperate to write a new story. After all, they watched Payton Thorne struggle for two years. Fingers crossed that Hugh Freeze’s big-spending roster revamp pays off in wins, not tears.