That's the point I am trying to make ... no, the $22 million is a cap. The players can get NIL, but it can't be the pay-for-play type of NIl where they are just given money for some bullshit transaction. The transactions have to be registered and they are vetted by a neutral arbiter who determines whether it is really a good faith NIL deal, or whether a booster/collective is just giving someone a bunch of money to to the school.
If you want to sign a big OL, you can use money from the $22 million, but you aren't supposed to be able to add another million from a collective and say that he's going to sign some shirts. If the OL can sign a true million dollar NIL deal, good for him. But you can probably count those on one hand - Bryce did the Dr. Pepper commercials, someone was in a State Farm ad, some guys from UGA and tOSU and others were in national gatoraid ads. Even those likely aren't worth a million bucks, or whatever OL are getting paid.
Now, I fully expect these rules that are to be supervised by the court in House to be challenged quickly. The first time someone tells UTjr that the million dollars is bullshit, they will move for an injunction. The federal courts might not be so quick to back them in that the players are getting real money to play directly from the school's TV revenue. But it will get challenged for sure.
To agree to the $22 million would have been stupid if you didn't stop the pay for play NIL. The problem is the NCAA is stupid, so it will get challenged and someday they are going to have to get a CBA with the players. Then they can pass rules that can't be challenged.