For elite-level college football players, the game is changing.

And the intrigue of being paid to play in another league, say the upcoming XFL in 2020, is the carrot dangling at the end of a string some may consider rather than settle for a monthly stipend in college.

"There are guys right now in college football that would take that money and run," Clemson wide receiver Justyn Ross told Bleacher Report's Matt Hayes in a recent interview.

Ross, a former four-star signee rated as the top player in Alabama for the 2018 recruiting cycle per the 247Sports Composite, notched 12 catches for 301 yards and three touchdown over two College Football Playoff games as a freshman last fall, blossoming into a can't-miss prospect who will be eligible for the 2021 NFL Draft.

He's one of several players nationally with collegiate eligibility remaining with a household name, capable of earning big bucks as the face of Vince McMahon's new football league that'll put an emphasis on marketing young, rising stars on the gridiron.

From Bleacher Report:

Per Bleacher Report, XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck sent a letter last year to agents informing them the XFL could pay as much as $200,000 a year for elite players. "The XFL isn't paying that premium salary for NFL castoffs or guys that have been cut," one agent tells Bleacher Report. "They're aiming directly at college football players."

The idea of elite players jumping from the college ranks to another football league for payment has been a talking point for months, kicked off by the introduction of the Alliance of American Football League earlier this year. Charlie Ebersol's failed business venture ceased all operations after just eight weeks into the regular season on Tuesday, giving the XFL a blueprint on what to avoid from a managerial and financial standpoint in 2020.

Don Yee, the longtime agent for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, said in January he's in favor of college players signing endorsement deals so they can profit off their image as stars of the XFL or Pacific Pro Football League.

Michael McCann, a sports legal analyst for Sports Illustrated, believes Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence — and potentially players like Ross — could hypothetically step away from college football, turn pro right now in another league and be eligible to begin profiting off of his expansive brand through endorsement deals.

"If Trevor Lawrence, who isn't eligible for NFL Draft until 2021, plays next two seasons in Pacific Pro Football League, he could sign endorsement deals," McCann tweeted earlier this year. "Elite players skipping college would be a problem for NCAA but less so for NFL, which gets a free developmental league either way."

Lawrence shot down the idea of leaving the Tigers to play elsewhere for cash when asked, but Ross believes it would be a more difficult answer for some.

"If [the XFL] is offering that kind of money, that's hard for an 18- or 19-year-old to turn down," Ross said. "If you really need that money, oh yeah, go do that. Something could happen. You can get hurt. Anything can happen. You have to take care of yourself because it can be over just like that."