I believe he will. There’s no guarantee that if he returns he would improve his draft status and he would be another year older. He could get hurt or heck get outplayed by a incoming player or just have a bad year.
The positive here is they can only be offered a $20,000 max bonus. This will be where some of the seniors decide to take the money rather than come back for another year, but I wouldnt expect to lose any of the underclassmen to these deals.
That was pretty much their best choice. For Zach - getting drafted in round 5 is pretty nice. Plus, he has his degree. I think you gotta run with it and go pro.