Michigan RB Donovan Edwards inks NIL deal with Burt Watson Auto Group

Donovan Edwards played behind Blake Corum for the brunt of the 2023 season.

In his last season playing college football, Corum set the Michigan single-season record for rushing touchdowns (27) on his way to earning first-team All-American honors. On the second play of overtime in the College Football Playoff semifinals against Alabama, he scored the game-winning touchdown to send the Wolverines to the national title game.

But it was Edwards who delivered in the national championship against Washington. The running back had 41 and 46-yard touchdown runs. He finished the game with 104 yards on six carries in the championship game.

Now back in Ann Arbor for his final season and Corum off to the NFL, Edwards will be the premier back for Michigan this fall. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound tailback has already landed on the cover of EA Sports College Football 25, which drops next month.

Edwards has now signed an NIL deal with Burt Watson Auto Group. Corum also had a partnership with the company during his time at Michigan. The Chevrolet and Ford dealership has locations in Freeland and Reese, Michigan.

“I am grateful to announce my partnership with Burt Watson Auto Group,” Edwards wrote on Instagram. “Burt Watson is full of great people who want to be there to better those around them. They provide not just to their customers, but to the community as well.”

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In a video announcing the partnership, he’s pictured in a Burt Watson Auto Group Chevy outside of The Big House. As part of the agreement, the running back will be hosting a meet and greet with fans at Burt Watson Chevrolet in Freeland on Saturday, June 29 with defensive back Rod Moore.

Donovan Edwards capitalizing on NIL

Edwards will enter the fall with 1,662 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns. He also has 200 or more receiving yards in each of his first three seasons at Michigan. Quarterback JJ McCarthy‘s roommate for two years, Edwards is expected to be a leader of a Wolverines program that has yet to name McCarthy’s successor.

“Donovan, he puts in the work,” Corum said after the national championship. “He’s always there. I love that guy. Don, the Don. That’s going to be what do you call it, a good friend – trusted agent, known friend for life. That’s my guy. I’m glad I got to share the backfield with Donovan. I wish Donovan nothing but the best, if he ever needed anything, best believe I’d be there for him.”

Along with working through the Champions Circle NIL collective, he has partnerships with NASCAR, The M Den, Powerade and Leaf Trading Cards. As part of his deal with EA Sports College Football 25, Edwards is being compensated for actually being in the video game and then also for his work marketing it.

With more than 100,000 social media followers and an On3 NIL Valuation in the top 100 of college football, the running back also has an endorsement deal with Essentia Water and held a youth football camp earlier this month.