My sense of this is really simple, treat people with respect. That should work both ways. Most players are used to the risks of football, have accepted it their whole lives, and are excited about the opportunity for another game. It's a wonderful thing to watch, and are we not entertained? But...if a player is a superstar having a great season, their situation is a lot different. A high draft choice faces a monumental loss of future income for a bad injury. I believe CO had this issue last year with their stars and made sure they had insurance for the bowl game. Both played. That seems like a reasonable outcome that respects both sides.
At the start of the season, players don't know their draft stock. The season matters. You can't negotiate every potentials into an NIL deal. Don't believe me --try putting penalties on players for not playing, then watch how they play when they feel they got screwed. Teams wanting to draft them won't blame them either --they get the business side of football way better than college fans. We've seen guys opt out countless times and the NFL values them every bit as much, even more that they're healthy. You don't just pay your players, you keep them happy or you trade them.
Like everything else, programs hunting National championships will figure it out and pony up the cash where it's needed. I'm amazed at how the money keeps growing, but it seems every year it does.
