re: Can an opposing NIL collective ink a deal with a player to just not play?

Back to the OP, I don't see why you'd arrange a NIL deal for a player not to play when you could give them a NIL deal to be a walk-on for your team.

When Daniel Jackson was a walk-on for UGA (he's a scholarship player now), he had a NIL deal that paid for his tuition, room and board and left him with about 10 grand a year extra. He effectively had a NIL scholarship despite officially being a walk-on.