How It Works

Understanding the CFB Transfer Market valuation process

What is CFB Transfer Market?

CFB Transfer Market is a truly crowdsourced platform for estimating college football player expected values in the 2026 portal season. The goal is not to predict a price, but to estimate the expected value of a player in a free market. Think: “What would this player be worth on the open market right now?”

There is minimal data work done here—this is a pure, unopinionated crowdsourced effort. We harness the wisdom of crowds to create valuations that reflect collective knowledge rather than any single analyst's opinion. By aggregating estimates from diverse users, we produce more reliable valuations than individual experts could provide.

How to Value Players

1. Browse Players on team pages

Start by exploring players on their respective team pages. You can filter and sort players based on various criteria to find those you're interested in valuing.

2. Click “Add Valuation”

When you find a player you want to value, click the “Add Valuation” button in their row.

3. Enter Your Expected Market Value (Optional)

Ask yourself: “What would this player be worth on the open market right now?”

Enter your best estimate in dollars. Consider factors like:

Player performance and statistics
Position and remaining eligibility (we focus on 2026 portal season)
Team success and visibility

4. Vote on Transfer and Draft Likelihood (Optional)

In addition to valuing players, you can also vote on whether you think a player will:

Transfer: Will this player enter the transfer portal?
Declare for NFL Draft: Will this player declare for the NFL draft?

These votes are completely optional and independent—you can submit a market value, vote on transfer/draft likelihood, or do both! The Transfer % and Draft % columns show the crowd's prediction using the same padded approach as valuations (everyone starts at 50%).

5. Submit Multiple Valuations

Anyone can submit valuations for any player—there's no limit! Each submission helps refine the crowd's collective estimate. The more diverse perspectives we gather, the more accurate our valuations become.

Position Market Benchmarks

To help calibrate your valuations, here are estimated market values for Power 4 starters based on ESPN's 2025 survey of general managers and agents by Max Olson:

Position	Value Range
Quarterback	$1M–$2M
Offensive Tackle	$500K–$1M
Edge Rusher	$500K–$1M
Wide Receiver	$400K–$800K
Defensive Tackle	$300K–$800K
Cornerback	$300K–$800K
Running Back	$300K–$700K
OG/C	$300K–$700K
Safety	$300K–$700K
Linebacker	$200K–$500K
Tight End	$200K–$400K

Note: These ranges reflect 2025 transfer market prices for Power 4 starters. Elite players command significantly higher amounts, while some proven starters may earn less. Use these as general guidelines, not absolute standards.

Understanding the Statistics

Valuation:A weighted average that combines position-based baseline values with crowd submissions. This starts at a reasonable baseline for each position/level and becomes more responsive as real valuations are submitted. More submissions = more weight on the crowd's wisdom.

CI Low / CI High:The 10th and 90th percentile confidence intervals. These show the range of uncertainty in our estimate. As more valuations are submitted and consensus builds, this range narrows. Wide intervals mean disagreement; narrow intervals mean strong consensus.

# Vals:The total number of real user valuations submitted (excludes baseline values). More valuations generally mean more reliable estimates and tighter confidence intervals.

Transfer %:The percentage of voters who believe this player will enter the transfer portal. Uses the same padded approach as valuations—everyone starts at 50% (2 yes / 2 no baseline), then actual votes move the percentage up or down. Higher percentages (shown in blue) indicate the crowd thinks a player is more likely to transfer.

Draft %:The percentage of voters who believe this player will declare for the NFL draft. Uses the same padded approach as Transfer %—everyone starts at 50%, then actual votes adjust the prediction. Higher percentages (shown in blue) indicate the crowd thinks a player is more likely to declare for the draft.

2026 Portal Season Focus

We automatically filter out players with 0 years of eligibility remaining.This platform focuses exclusively on the 2026 transfer portal season. We only display players with at least 1 year of eligibility remaining, as these are the players who could potentially enter the portal and command market value. This keeps our valuations forward-looking and relevant to the upcoming portal cycle.

Truly Crowdsourced, Minimal Opinion

There is minimal data manipulation here. We don't apply complex models, adjust for “expert” opinions, or weight certain users more than others. This is a pure crowdsourced platform that tries to be as unopinionated as possible.

We simply aggregate your submissions with position-based baseline values to create a collective market estimate. The valuations you see represent the true wisdom of the crowd—no filters, no adjustments, just honest aggregation of diverse perspectives. This transparency ensures our estimates reflect what the community actually believes, not what any single analyst thinks should be true.

The Wisdom of Crowds

Research has consistently shown that aggregating predictions from diverse groups of people often produces more accurate estimates than individual experts—even domain specialists. By contributing your valuations, you're helping create a more accurate picture of the college football player market. The more diverse perspectives we gather, the more reliable and robust our estimates become.

Ready to Get Started?

Head over to the home page and start adding your player valuations. Your insights help make this platform more valuable for everyone in the college football community.

Start Valuing Players