Former Florida quarterback Jaden Rashada has reached a confidential settlement in his NIL lawsuit against former Gators coach Billy Napier and a prominent University of Florida booster, according to court records.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, per On3. Court documents show a mediation conference took place Feb. 10, and those talks resulted in a settlement.
Rashada filed the lawsuit in May 2024, marking one of the first high-profile NIL-related legal battles in college athletics’ new compensation era. Named in the suit were Napier, former Florida staffer Marcus Castro-Walker, booster Heath Hathcock and Hathcock’s former company, Velocity Automotive.
At the center of the dispute was a reported four-year, $13.85 million agreement tied to Florida’s NIL collective. According to the complaint, Velocity Automotive was expected to help fund the package that influenced Rashada’s decision to flip his commitment from Miami to Florida in November 2022. He later signed with the Gators but alleged the agreement was not honored and was subsequently released from his National Letter of Intent.
In April 2025, U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers ruled the case would proceed to discovery on several fraud-related claims.
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Rashada later transferred to Arizona State, then Georgia and Sacramento State before signing with Mississippi State this offseason. Napier, dismissed by Florida during the 2025 season, is preparing for his first year as head coach at James Madison.
