Former Oregon Ducks and current Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix is coming off a very successful 2024-2025 season. Nix threw for 3,777 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions en route to helping the Broncos snapping their playoff drought. 

Despite being one off the best up and coming quarterbacks in the NFL, Nix’s contract this upcoming season will be less than college quarterback Carson Beck’s NIL valuation with the Miami Hurricanes.

Nix signed a four year $18 million contract after being drafted No. 12 overall by the Broncos in the 2024 NFL Draft. The cap hit on Nix’s deal in 2024 was $3.3 million and will be $4.2 million in 2025. 

Beck on the other hand is set to make $4.4 million in 2025 with Miami per On3.

Carson Beck is set to start his sixth collegiate season when the Miami Hurricanes kick off their 2025 season. Beck was the No. 1 ranked quarterback back out of high school in the class of 2020 per 247Sports and signed with the Georgia Bulldogs. Beck was at Georgia from 2020-2024 before announcing he would be transferring and signing with the Miami Hurricanes for the 2025 season. 

Beck was the Bulldogs starting quarterback in 2023 and 2024 and threw for 52 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. His 2024 season came to an end in the SEC Championship game against Texas, where he injured his UCL on his throwing arm. This is a similar injury that San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy suffered in the 2022-2023 NFC Championship game vs. the Philadelphia Eagles.

Despite this injury, Miami decided that they were willing to role the dice with Beck and he is set to make over $4 million in NIL from the University of Miami collective alone. Assuming he is able to heal from his elbow injury and win the starting job in the fall, Beck will be the one following in the footsteps of Cam Ward. Ward spent his final collegiate season at Miami, throwing for 39 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. Ward lead the Hurricanes to a 10-3 record and is now projected as one of the top two quarterbacks to be selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. 

MORE: Oregon Ducks’ Dillon Gabriel Lands New NIL Deal: $1.9 Million NIL Valuation

MORE: Oregon Ducks Battling Texas for USC Transfer Portal Lineman Emmanuel Pregnon

MORE: Oregon Ducks Battling Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State: 5-Star Quarterback Jared Curtis

The Denver Broncos selected Bo Nix as the No. 12 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Nix and the Broncos had very low expectations s coming into the season, and had their over/under win total at 5.5 wins. Sean Payton and his team blew that away and went 10-7, clinching a wild card berth. 

The Broncos had not made a playoff appearance since 2015-2016, when Payton Manning was the quarterback. The Broncos season came to a close in a 31-7 loss at the Buffalo Bills over the weekend.

MORE: Oregon Ducks 5-Star Receiver Dakorien Moore Compared to Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith 

MORE: Ohio State To Win National Championship? Oregon Ducks Coach Dan Lanning Believes

MORE: Four-Star Linebacker Recruit McKay Madsen Commits To BYU Over Oregon Ducks, UCLA

MORE: L.A. Chargers’ Justin Herbert Takes Blame In NFL Wild Card Loss To Houston Texans

MIAMI – A group of men identified by a ringleader as “goons” were plotting through a messaging app to kidnap a Miami jeweler and rob him of $2 million in cryptocurrency. But they didn’t know an informant was also in their group chat.

That’s all according to court documents obtained by Local 10 News on Wednesday, following the arrests of Zacary Briggs, 22; Aaron Hammond, 21; Tre’von Neal, 20; and Evan Puckett, 18, on multiple federal felonies.

Leer es español

Authorities said they nabbed the group in Broward County on Monday as they met up ahead of the planned kidnapping.

The alleged plot

A federal criminal complaint authored by an FBI agent states that a “confidential source” informed authorities on Jan. 6 that a person named “Jack” was assembling “a group of people to kidnap a jeweler who worked out of the Seybold Building,” a well-known hub of jewelers at 36 NE First St. in downtown Miami.

The source told investigators that “Jack” had been in contact with the victim online and “was seeking to exchange a large amount of cryptocurrency for cash,” authorities said.

The next day, “Jack” told the informant that he would put him in a group chat with the “goons,” members of the kidnapping group, the complaint states. “Jack,” authorities say, also sent the source a screenshot of the victim’s digital wallet, showing he had about $2 million worth of crypto.

In the following days, “Jack” began a group chat via the Telegram app called “Play.” In it were “Jack,” along with participants identified as “Dot,” “Swipey” and “Tim.”

The informant was known as “D” or “Big D.” While the complaint doesn’t state who “Jack,” “Tim” and “Dot” were, agents said they were later able to identify “Swipey” as Puckett.

“Jack” would later tell the group chat, “(S)o I told them not to hurt or do shi (sic) to him. We just need to get him,” the complaint states,

“Jack” and his partner “Tim” ultimately agreed to provide the other members of the group $3,500 before the kidnapping.

Read the complaint:

Authorities said the group discussed plans to hold the jeweler until a crypto ransom was paid and it was decided that “Tim” would provide a vehicle for the kidnapping. The complaint states that “Dot” “later stated that they would be carrying firearms, including Mac-10s and .223 assault-style rifles for the kidnapping.”

The informant told agents that members of the group had asked him to provide a car prior to Monday, the planned date of the kidnapping, ”so they could drive around the area where the kidnapping would occur and scope it out beforehand.”

Authorities said “Tim” arranged to send the informant, “D” to meet with Puckett “near or around Palm Beach County” to pick up the car.

But instead of “D,” the complaint states that investigators sent an undercover agent posing as the informant to meet Puckett. He brought a black, 2023 Chevy Tahoe which was, unbeknownst to the crooks, outfitted with wires, authorities said.

After Puckett met with the agent and got the SUV, he told the group chat, “Big D was cool,” the complaint states. He was later heard, after moving the SUV to a Broward home, saying, “Oh, he’s not getting this back,” referring to the Tahoe.

Authorities said on Monday, they tracked Neal’s cellphone from central Florida as he and the other suspect headed from Ocala to Davie to meet with Puckett to commit the kidnapping.

The complaint states that on a recorded call, Puckett was heard telling “Jack” and the informant that he had a “convoy of (N-words) doing this s— for nothing.” He would later send the group photos of “a handgun and an AR-Style pistol” that he had procured, agents said.

In another recorded call, three members of the kidnapping group were heard talking about the plot, the complaint states.

Authorities said a male voice is heard saying that “one knock” and “one good bop should do it” but that they did not want to give the victim “brain damage.”

“Another male voice can then be heard saying ‘I don’t want this (n-word) to stab me or f—ing shoot me,’ to which a third male voice then replies ‘Tre’von, I would kill that n—- dawg,’” investigators wrote in the complaint.

Authorities said they intercepted the men as they parked ahead of the kidnapping. They said they immediately captured Briggs, Hammond and Puckett and said they arrested Neal a short time later after he ran toward a nearby business.

Agents interview suspects

Authorities said they interviewed the suspects after taking them into custody.

Neal, they said, told investigators that “he was supposed to act as ‘security’ for the (group) and would protect the crew if (the victim) tried to defend himself with a weapon.”

Neal, who had a knife on him, said he “did not intend” to use it in the kidnapping and said “he had changed his mind about participating in the robbery and wanted to leave,” the complaint states.

Puckett, investigators said, admitted that the group intended to rob the victim for crypto and “admitted that he brought the guns the group members would possess during the robbery; however, he claimed that he intended to use them only in the event that he needed to defend himself.”

Investigators said Briggs first claimed that Neal had “hired him to drive him around and that he was going to get paid $500 a day” but that “he was asleep during the trip” and said that Puckett was “known to scam people for cryptocurrency.”

Briggs, the complaint states, “eventually admitted he was aware that the (group) was driving down” to South Florida “to participate in the kidnapping and robbery,” but “he only agreed to act as the ‘driver’ and he did not plan on getting involved in the violence against (the victim).”

It states he “also told law enforcement that if anyone threatened his safety during the robbery, he would have run them over with the truck” and said that the plan was for Puckett to meet with the jeweler “and pretend that he was going to give him a couple of watches in exchange for cryptocurrency.”

Hammond also admitted to the plot, agents said, and said the group’s “plan was to lure the jeweler to the car, rob him and then let him go.”

Investigators said he told them that “he was supposed to be the ‘jump out guy,’ which meant he would “bonk” the victim on the head and put him in the SUV.

They said Hammond told them when he arrived in Broward, he “saw the rifle in the vehicle and became worried because he was on ‘probation.’”

Charges and court dates

The men were initially booked into Broward Sheriff’s Office jail facilities following their arrests.

They are facing federal charges of kidnapping conspiracy, attempted conspiracy, Hobbs Act robbery and attempted Hobbs Act extortion.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the kidnapping conspiracy charge carries a potential life sentence.

Online records show that Briggs and Hammond were scheduled to appear in federal court on Friday for detention hearings.

Detention hearings for Neal and Puckett were scheduled for the following Tuesday.

Remember when Miami was a team you had to take seriously? That Miami could hurt you. That Miami could float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. That was not the Miami we saw Tuesday night and frankly we miss that other Miami.

Duke beat this Miami by 35, 89-54, and it was nolo contendere, no mas, no way for the ‘Canes, and that started early.

Miami tied the game at 6-6 and then Duke took over and went on a three point binge.

Kon Knueppel hit two, then Mason Gillis hit two then Knueppel hit another. Then it was Sion James and Isaiah Evans hit a pair. By that time it was 30-15 and the game was effectively over.

Duke shot 8-12 on threes in the first half and finished the game 17-32 and 53.1 percent on threes is not bad.

Duke’s defense was also imposing. The Blue Devils held Miami to 6-20 on threes (30 percent) and 23-59 overall (39 percent). The ‘Canes only had eight turnovers, but that doesn’t reflect the number of pressured shots, airballs and shot clock violations that Duke pushed them into.

Lynne Kidd was the only real threat Miami had for most of the game and he did surprisingly well against Khaman Maluach, finishing with 20 points and just one rebound.

Austin Swartz got 11 points and that was about it for the ‘Canes. Jalil Bethea had seven; no one else had more than five.

No doubt a lot of people were looking for Cooper Flagg to erupt again after his 42 point game against Notre Dame but that didn’t happen. Flagg finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

The leading scorer was Knueppel. Playing like he wanted to make up for the end of the Notre Dame game, Knueppel finished with 25 on 9-11/6-8 shooting. He also had three assists.

Tyrese Proctor didn’t score in this one and that followed a three-point outing against the Irish. Prior to that he had 14, 13, 14 and ten in the previous four games.

Sion James finished with five points, five assists, two rebounds and three blocks, including one terrific one in the second half.

Mason Gillis was tremendous too. His role has really expanded in the last two games. He’s just playing at a much higher level.

Caleb Foster played well, scoring nine points on 3-6/2-3 from the floor. He has been working hard to get to the basket lately and that’s a nice complement to the hot outside shooting.

Duke used Patrick Ngongba for 18 minutes in the absence of Maliq Brown, and he showed some improvement too. He finished with four points and five rebounds and certainly didn’t hurt the team. That’s pretty good for a freshman who was pushed back by injury.

Isaiah Evans played well and aggressively, finishing with eight points and two boards.

Darren Harris got in for eight minutes and also did well. He didn’t score much – just a free throw – but he was comfortable on the court.

You’ve probably noticed that we haven’t gotten to Khaman Maluach yet and that’s because we saved the best for last.

Well, Knueppel was the best tonight. But we could certainly say Maluach was the most exciting thing about this game.

In the earliest games this season, Maluach was tentative. At times he was almost timid. Those days, if they’re not gone, nearly are.

Maluach is a different player. It’s not his stats though they were excellent. He had 12 points on 6-7 from the floor and 15 rebounds. Maluach was tremendous Tuesday.

What really excited us though was his alertness and confidence. There was no tentativeness. There was no uncertainty. And best of all, there were two plays in a row in the second half where he was near the basket and just took the ball straight up. First time was after a rebound and the second he just went up for a jump hook.

These were things he just didn’t do earlier. It wasn’t a question of ability. It was just a lack of confidence and experience. He’s improving with unbelievable speed.

It’s really one of the most striking things we’ve ever seen at Duke. We’ll have to think about this but who has ever improved like this this quickly?

With the win, Duke moves to 15-2 and the losses to Kentucky, by five, and Kansas, by three, don’t seem as concerning.

Next up for the Blue Devils is a trip to Boston College Saturday, then three straight Tobacco Road opponents – at Wake Forest, then NC State and UNC at home.