Florida football coach Billy Napier, former staffer file motions to dismiss Jaden Rashada lawsuit against them

Florida football coach Billy Napier and former Florida football staffer Marcus Castro-Walker filed motions to dismiss a $10 million lawsuit filed against them by former UF signee and current Georgia quarterback Jaden Rashada.

Filed in U.S. District Court in Pensacola by Castro-Walker's attorney, Hal Davis, the motion for dismissal contends that the complaint failed to show Castro-Walker acted with actual malice in a verbal agreement on a botched, $13.8 million Name, Image and Likeness deal with the now-defunct Gator Collective. Rashada claimed he abandoned a $9 million NIL deal with Miami to commit to Florida based on the promise of a bigger payday.

"The simple truth is that overly optimistic promises are made every day in collegiate football recruiting ... " the motion read. "Opening the doors of the federal courthouse to every college football player seeking injunctive relief or specific performance of an 'oral contract' when their dream doesn't materialize would only lead to a class of plaintiffs larger than any mass tort action on record."

Attorneys for Napier contend that the third-year Florida football coach, "Could not have defrauded Rashada since the sole statement attributed to Napier is alleged to have been made after Rashada had already abandoned the Miami NIL deal."

Rashada is seeking $10 million in damages and has filed suit against Castro-Walker, Florida Gators football coach Billy Napier and prominent Florida athletic booster Hugh Hathcock, who owns Velocity Motorsports in Destin. Hatchcock also filed a motion to dismiss the case.

A former five-star standout from Pittsburg, Calif., Rashada signed with UF for the 2023 class but was granted release from his National Letter of Intent a month later after the NIL deal failed to materialize. Rashada then signed with Arizona State, where he played in three games, passing for 485 yards with 4 TDs and 3 interceptions. He transferred to Georgia this offseason.

Castro-Walker resigned from Florida last January after the NCAA launched an investigation into the deal. That investigation is now on pause due to a court injunction involving another NCAA investigation into an NIL deal for Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

At the SEC spring meetings last month, Napier would not comment on the specifics of the case but said he was "comfortable with his actions."

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida football coach Billy Napier, former staffer file motions to dismiss Jaden Rashada lawsuit against them