You have no idea what they were paid because it was all under the table, but that completely misses the point. Obviously the market is evolving since it's moved into the light, but the statement that there was no market prior to NIL is provably false. My point remains. Just because someone is willing to pay something doesn't really establish the worth of the thing, only the desperation of the buyer. Believe what you will about how Spyre plays the game, but I choose to believe that we have some adults in charge and they have a rational view of what is a reasonable price to pay. Given that they dug deep for Nico I trust them to invest heavily when they deem it appropriate. Until weakness manifests on the field I have no problem with them walking away, rather than get sucked into bidding wars because a bunch of forum warriors think they should throw the bank at every passing 5*.