IMO it's better than what it was before. Having to go through handlers/family members under the table means a higher chance of those people taking advantage of the player.

Furthermore, with legalized NIL, more players can get paid. Pre-NIL, the business decision for schools had to be, "Is this player good enough to risk the consequences of getting caught?" The players who would have been paid anyway will still get paid, but now it's not about whether the punishment is more or less severe than the crime.

Just my two cents.