Kamario Taylor finalizing $7.5 million deal to return to Mississippi State for 2027 season

Kamario Taylor is finalizing a new deal to return to Mississippi State next season that will make him college football’s highest-paid quarterback, On3’s Chris Low and Pete Nakos report. The deal is worth $7.5 million and, with incentives, could climb as high as $9 million. Taylor had season-ending surgery for turf toe on Oct. 28 and has said repeatedly that he would finish his career as a Bulldog. After a solid freshman campaign in 2025, Taylor exploded out of the gates as one of the top quarterbacks in the country in 2026. His stellar start resulted in a 4-0 start to the season for Mississippi State, which catapulted the Bulldogs to No. 16 in the AP Poll following a win over No. 19 Missouri. $39.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage Taylor, however, was injured in the Missouri win, kicking off the beginning of the end of his sophomore season. He played in Miss State‘s next game against No. 7 Alabama, missed the following game against No. 22 LSU, and returned for the Oct. 24 game against Oklahoma. Taylor did not last long in that game against the Sooners, though, and it was revealed soon after the loss that he’d be undergoing season-ending surgery. Across his six-game season in 2026, Taylor completed 104/159 passes for 1,460 yards and 17 touchdowns with four interceptions. He hit the 300-yard passing mark in two of those games, and passed for at least three touchdowns in each of his first five games of the season. Taylor was solidly in the running for the Heisman Trophy early in the season, and was even reaping praise from the greatest college football coach of all time. “If I was coaching right now, I’d be trying to get KaMario Taylor to get in the portal,” Nick Saban said on ESPN’s College GameDay. Kamario Taylor to return to Mississippi State for third season Taylor’s return serves as a massive win for the Mississippi State football program. He seems to be on track to cementing himself as one of the program’s all-time greats, and could certainly do so with another massive campaign in 2027. “Kamario Taylor is a fantastic quarterback,” Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said prior to facing Taylor and Mississippi State earlier this season. “He may be the best that we have faced in the last three years since I’ve been here. “Just his ability to create explosives in the passing game, finding throws in the RPO game, the off-schedule plays that he makes, not only with his feet in the run game, but also he does a great job of keeping his eyes downfield and creating explosive passes through extending plays with his feet as well. I think he’s had three touchdown passes in every game that he’s played. He’s had an explosive pass touchdown in every game, and he’s playing about as good as I have seen a guy play, certainly in the last three years.” There’s no doubt Taylor will enter the 2027 season as one of the top candidates to compete for the Heisman Trophy. No Mississippi State player has ever won the award.