It’s possible. Just because a contract is illegal under NCAA rules doesn’t make it invalid or illegal under civil law which isn’t subject to the NCAA rules.
The problem I see, looking at it broadly, is not so much the contract but the non-reporting of income.
Yes, I agree, two parties can make a contract that says, literally, anything.
What I was pointing out is that the "advance fund" clearly put forth a contract, to an 18 year old, that is in direct violation of brand new NIL rules that had just been put into place. ****, they could have even done one of these contracts 5 years ago, before NIL was even legal, since the "future money" is the NFL salary. I do think that the EXTRA citation of the "agent rules" is to bring in an area of state legality that HAS been in place prior to NIL rules.
I'm just pointing out that the court is highly unlikely to uphold that contract, whether it is for illegality or public policy or any other grounds.
But you are also correct, the non-reporting of income is going to be WAY worse, once the IRS comes sniffing around.
This **** is fascinating. Two years ago, I said that a lot of dirt would eventually come out, and here we are.