Travis Hunter's unique profile can complicate NFL career in cruel way

Travis Hunter is so good on both sides of the ball, so big-play-prone, so effective in man-coverage, that it may actually...hurt his NFL earnings in the most roundabout and straight-up cruel of circumstances.

Huh?

Hunter's willingness to play as many snaps as possible -- against North Dakota State in Colorado's opener, that meant 129 -- could complicate the guarantees he gets in the pros. NFL franchises will be looking to protect themselves by being heavy on the incentive side in negotiations.

Imagine the holdouts Hunter could have with Deion Sanders still hovering over him and making public demands. As Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio writes, Hunter could create an "unprecedented" contract dilemma in the modern era.

"The injury risk would be more pronounced, since it would remove a key player from offense and defense," Florio prefaced before saying, "Still, a full-time, two-way, receiver-cornerback would — after three NFL seasons — create a contract question unprecedented in the salary-cap era.

"For now, it’s unclear whether Hunter can do both in the NFL, or whether he wants to. But if he can and if he does, he becomes a far more valuable. And he should be compensated accordingly."

Travis Hunter can see his NFL draft stock slip because teams will be afraid to pay up

If Hunter is playing both sides of the ball, and Coach Prime thinks he should just like Florio, NFL teams may think twice about using their high-paying first-round draft slot on a player who can make gaudy demands as an unprecedented injury risk.

Hunter is a college football first. That'll make him an NFL first. And with Deion Sanders already labeling Hunter a problem for the NFL, no franchise that employs him will be able to control his snap-count like they'd like to from a fiduciary duty standpoint.

An asset like Hunter is usually protected in the NFL. But he doesn't want to be protected and has loud backers who will his NFL connections to make his employer's life hard if he doesn't play on both sides of the ball.

Hunter may not the payday he deserves, but that's a tale as old as time in the NFL relative to the NBA and MLB.