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From Franchise QB to NIL Fugitive: The Nico Story (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter sm8680
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InDitkaWeTrust
Footballguy
I wouldn't be surprised if these kinds of stories mark the end of the NIL rules as they are.
Yes.
What's he thinking?
He was the consensus top QB in next years draft assuming Manning remained and even then he might have been. What an incredible career risk he's taking for maybe collecting a few million dollars.
Penny wise and pound foolish.
How much has he damaged his stock is TBD but the risk so high due to what now has to be leadership/character concerns and who well he'll perform on his new team.
I'm not anti-NIL or believe this is destroying college sports and unless coaches are not allowed to hop around for top dollar and not honor contracts I will never be against players doing what they can to get paid. But the way Nico handled this I think is going to come back and hurt him a little to a lot.
He was? Admittedly I don't look at future draft boards (I assumed Manning, Allar were 1-2) but watching Tennessee I saw nothing that screamed 1st round pick, let alone consensus top QB. I saw a guy who was an ok game manager, who got carried by Dylan Sampson this season. Granted he's still young, but Joe Milton and especially Hendon Hooker looked better in this offense to me.
ETA: Is it just the prototype size?
Here are the top 10 highest-paid college quarterbacks in NIL money for 2025, based on estimated valuations:
1) Texas QB Arch Manning (NIL Valuation: $6,500,000)
2) Miami QB Carson Beck ($4,300,000)
3) Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith ($4,000,000)
4) Florida QB DJ Lagway ($3,800,000)
5) South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers ($3,700,000)
6) LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier ($3,600,000)
7) Clemson QB Cade Klubnik ($3,300,000)
8) Penn State QB Drew Allar ($3,100,000)
9) Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava ($3,100,000)
10) Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt ($3,000,000)
1) Texas QB Arch Manning (NIL Valuation: $6,500,000)
2) Miami QB Carson Beck ($4,300,000)
3) Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith ($4,000,000)
4) Florida QB DJ Lagway ($3,800,000)
5) South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers ($3,700,000)
6) LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier ($3,600,000)
7) Clemson QB Cade Klubnik ($3,300,000)
8) Penn State QB Drew Allar ($3,100,000)
9) Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava ($3,100,000)
10) Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt ($3,000,000)
Size and tools.
I mean what has Manning done other then his name?
People I listen to have repeatedly said Nico was the favorite to be QB1 assuming Arch remains in college, Nussmier next. Some love for Sellers and Allar but Nico was the main guy they talked about when they mentioned the 2026 draft being better for QB's.
I don't pay much attention accuracy of who does these projection but I use this site to give me an idea of future prospects but again have not really tracked their accuracy over the years, just an easy and accessible read: https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/positions/QB/1/2026
It's all a moot point now.
Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
Well said, nice post
Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
The Miami Hurricanes have established themselves as the whores of college football
They are willing to pay just about any amount to land a Top 5 QB
And they love the transfer portal
Who needs to recruit well when you can just transfer in a few high level skill players and go 10-2 and spit out 1st round QBs?
Just keeping it real
Ward, Beck, who's next? Step right up
Boston
Footballguy
Just looked at his stats from last year and they were lower than I expected...in 13 games he was 213 for 334/63.8% with 19 TDs and 5 ints...rushing he had 358 yards/3.3 YPC and 3 TDs...he's off to the highest bidder and some poor kid who thinks he's starting next year is about to get a bomb dropped on him....and then that kid can transfer and take another kid's job...and so on and so forth.
Ok I am being lame here
Nico 'not so Suave' Iamaleava
Nico I'm a leaving
Greedy Goner
IamaLEAVE-A Sack
NIL or Nothing
Cash Grab Crumble
PayDay no PlayDay
More Nil More Sacks
Sacked by the salary cap
Sacked and Stacked
The Nil Reaper
QB1? more like ATM1
All About the Benchedjamins
Nico 'not so Suave' Iamaleava
Nico I'm a leaving
Greedy Goner
IamaLEAVE-A Sack
NIL or Nothing
Cash Grab Crumble
PayDay no PlayDay
More Nil More Sacks
Sacked by the salary cap
Sacked and Stacked
The Nil Reaper
QB1? more like ATM1
All About the Benchedjamins
This has been a hot topic here in Knoxville.
Most are glad to see him gone. He under delivered on the current $2million a year deal. And then rolled in demanding 4 million.
Oh well. The market will tell.
He may be able to convince some school to give him more. All it takes is 1.
But I'm ok with it not being UT.
Most are glad to see him gone. He under delivered on the current $2million a year deal. And then rolled in demanding 4 million.
Oh well. The market will tell.
He may be able to convince some school to give him more. All it takes is 1.
But I'm ok with it not being UT.
The buzz in Knoxville is maybe Texas Tech or UCLA. But that's just speculation at this point.
InDitkaWeTrust
Footballguy
This is all on the NCAA. If they are allowing NIL contracts, then they also need to be legally enforceable, have buyouts and be less than 4 years in length. All this is assuming that the transfer portal rules stay the same.
Jay Bilas had a great idea. If you leave….have buyouts where player has to pay some back.
QuizGuy66
Footballguy
I think the intrigue will be if his stay in the portal is short and if he gets the money he was asking for. Are there any rules about tampering (or heck any to enforce these rules even if they are on the books).
I mean if a UCLA intermediary says "we can get you $4m" this would be a logical ending no?
-QG
I mean if a UCLA intermediary says "we can get you $4m" this would be a logical ending no?
-QG
massraider
Footballguy
Bound to happen, and observers will go after the kid, but if he can get 4 mill elsewhere, that's his right.
No rules coming to stop this
No rules coming to stop this
Instinctive
Footballguy
I mean, sure it's his right, just like it's anyone's right to breach a contract. I'd be interested to see the contract and the opposing party (Vols football I assume) should be able to sue for breach and show damages.
There absolutely need to be some rules. To get that though there are three routes:
1. The US passes law
2. The schools form a real league and get a CBA with the players
3. The schools just start suing kids who breach their contracts and we let existing law handle it (civil). And kids who want flexibility shouldn't sign more than one year at a time, LeBron style.
massraider
Footballguy
If he has received his money for playing in 2024, but not received money for playing in 2025, and I'm not aware of any pro-rated signing bonuses, then we should assume he doesn't owe Tennessee any money. Or at least table all this talk about Tennessee clawing back money, this seems like groundless speculation.
I haven't seen anything on Twitter about breach of contract, and he would be like any other player in the portal. The only difference is him not practicing as he tried to negotiate a new deal, and his ask being made public.
This is a great time to remember that the NCAA was looking into marking him ineligible because of Tennessee's recruitment of him as a high schooler. The attorney General of TEN sued the NCAA on the schools behalf for "unlawful enforcement".
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
I haven't seen anything on Twitter about breach of contract, and he would be like any other player in the portal. The only difference is him not practicing as he tried to negotiate a new deal, and his ask being made public.
This is a great time to remember that the NCAA was looking into marking him ineligible because of Tennessee's recruitment of him as a high schooler. The attorney General of TEN sued the NCAA on the schools behalf for "unlawful enforcement".
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
TLEF316
Footballguy
I've heard a lot of people note point # 2.
I guess my question is....what incentive do the PLAYERS have to bargain for a CBA? Right now they have an unregulated market and are allowed to do basically whatever they want. Sure, there have been a few fairly high profile instances of alleged non-payments by schools/boosters/collectives/whatever (the UNLV QB, several Florida state basketball players suing Hamilton) but I just dont see a reason why these 20 year olds would commit to any sort of negotiation that might limit their options.
Its not like the pro leagues where the guys have 10+ year careers and are also negotiating for post-playing benefits. The college kids have basically no skin in the game long term. All these guys care about is how much they can get in their 3-5 years playing in college. And right now there are absolutely no limits on their ability to do that (guys jump to 4 schools in 4 years, reneg on previously negotiated deals, etc.)
The obvious answer is point #3, but are the schools really gonna incur the expense of doing that? Seems to me they'll just chalk up their losses and use the $$ they would have spent on lawyers to just go and swipe someone else's QB/RB/Point guard/whatever with their own "NIL deal"
Toothpaste is out of the tube at this point. I dont see a way back to anything other than the unregulated chaos we have now. Any time the NCAA goes to court trying to limit ANYTHING, they lose.
osubuckeyeman
Footballguy
This is the main point. I can not blame a kid for doing what is allowed and smart. I do not think this will hurt him at all. This is now pro ball, and he is making a pro decision. If he balls out at Ohio State, Miami, LSU, or USC, he will be a top pick in the draft, and life will continue. If he fails, then he won't. He feels he is worth more to play somewhere, and we will see if someone is willing to pay him. If they do, then he made the right call. I find there is always more to the story than we know. There is a risk that he does not fit his new school's scheme the way he thinks he will, and then he gets to ponder his decision. I find the cream always rises, though, if given the opportunity. Local articles have pondered how he would do at Ohio State and whether Ohio State should consider bringing him in. This leads me to believe he will make more for his services next season. How much more will be determined later, along with his landing spot.
Sure. I'm certain there will be some fans who are unhappy and don't like a player who was average to good asking to double his price. But that's his right. As it's UT's right to tell him no thanks and to move along. It's business.
In 2025, the market rules for college sports and the market will decide.
And in the players favor, it just takes one team with loads of money desperate for a QB. We'll see.
Snotbubbles
Footballguy
There needs to be some sort of salary cap to level the playing field. Other than that, I don't care if kids move around from school to school.
ZWK
Footballguy
I was surprised by the amount of outrage directed at Iamaleava for this. Maybe it would be clearer to me if I followed college football more closely and knew more about the ins and outs of how NIL deals work.
Is the outrage, and the sense that this will make NFL teams think less of him, mainly about Iamaleava:
1. transferring away from TEN in the middle of a multi-year NIL deal
2. trying to get a raise in the middle of a multi-year NIL deal
3. publicly threatening a holdout to try to accomplish this
4. doing these things when he hasn't played well enough to "earn" a raise
Or something else, or some combination of these?
Is the outrage, and the sense that this will make NFL teams think less of him, mainly about Iamaleava:
1. transferring away from TEN in the middle of a multi-year NIL deal
2. trying to get a raise in the middle of a multi-year NIL deal
3. publicly threatening a holdout to try to accomplish this
4. doing these things when he hasn't played well enough to "earn" a raise
Or something else, or some combination of these?
osubuckeyeman
Footballguy
The test will be whether he will allow a player who holds out to play at Miami. In other words, if a player holds out at another school and enters the portal, will Miami permit a hold-out player at another university to play at Miami? I would also like to know if Miami has offered a player more NIL money to come to Miami while still attending another university. Jeremiah Smith was offered more to play at other universities and turned them down. So, if people are going to come out and talk the talk, they better be prepared to walk the walk.
What is the difference if a player would like to play for more NIL money and another university entices a player to leave the university they just balled out for to come play for them for more NIL money? This is called hypocrisy.
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I'm sure some do but I don't feel any "outrage" at all. And UT is my team.
He wanted to renegotiate what he agreed to. That's his right. Tennessee said no thanks. He'll move on.
I'm sure UT fans would have preferred he played better on his current deal and everyone could have done what they said they'd do. But this is the new world.
And I don't think this will affect how NFL teams think of him at all. How he plays will be how NFL teams think of him.
It's just a business.
massraider
Footballguy
Miami has the #1 portal QB two years running. More than fair to assume money was a main factor. More than fair to assume that negotiations with their former team didn't include enough money, so Ward and Beck moved on.
I think Cristobal was drawing some kind of a line at the skipping practice/holdout part of it. Which was sure a bad look for Iamaleava, and it wouldn't surprise me if this goes badly for him. But NFL players hold out, and manage to get jobs with other teams, so.....
osubuckeyeman
Footballguy
It's just a bit fishy to say, "Don't play the holdout game for more money, but we can ask other players to come play for us for more money." The only leverage the player has is to say I want more money or I won't play, or " I will play for someone else. Please pay me more money for my services. I'm sure the negotiations did not just start last night. I can not say I knew when Nico asked for more money, but I can assume this was an ongoing situation, and it came to a head with the team's Spring Game. Deadlines spur action, and in this case, UT let him go. And that is their right, but I don't think Nico did anything wrong. For Miami to come out and say Don't play that game with us or get out seems hypocritical because they always play this game the same as everyone else at the power schools.
I also think there are a lot of players watching how this plays out for Nico. He saw Beck leave and make double, and then he led his school to the playoffs like Beck did, and he wants to be paid like a player who led his team to a playoff appearance.
I think the NCAA made a mistake and let this all get out of hand, but now what is done is done. I see absolutely nothing wrong with what Nico did, including holding out. This reminds me a lot of when people felt it was terrible for players not to play in bowl games, and now it is an everyday norm. It is a business decision; if schools don't like it, they do not have to participate in NIL discussions with players. Marshall University lost so many players to the portal that they could not play in their bowl game. NIL played a considerable role in that.
The other answer for both parties is for the NCAA to come in and impose regulations that are fair for both parties. I am interested in how they do that now. I think that should be the discussion; otherwise, this will also become a norm. Players renegotiating their contracts will become a new norm. And yes, that will include holdouts.
massraider
Footballguy
No. That's not an answer. The NCAA has no control over what these students make. They've lost every court case.
What is fair to the these young athletes is to make as much money as their skills will allow. Like every other American.
This is not perfect, but it's better than the previous system. Athletes who make millions for their school get to share in the rewards, for whatever they can negotiate, and they don't have to make it in the NFL to set themselves up for life.
This system is worlds better than before, where schools would suspend kids for getting a free pizza. But some fans miss the old system. I dunno if that is from crippling levels of ignorance, or sociopathic lack of empathy. I assume ignorance
osubuckeyeman
Footballguy
I do not miss the old system. I also believe kids should be paid to play. I do think the NIL can be reined in a bit. Otherwise, open the gates and have the NCAA just be another pro league. Have a free agency. You could even have a draft. There is a difference between the NFL and NCAA and I think there should be.
Success often opens doors but does every door deserve to be walked through? In college football, a strong season can mean lucrative NIL deals, coaching shifts, and program changes. However, there’s a difference between seizing an opportunity and getting ahead of yourself.
Take Nico Iamaleava, for example. His season was good, but not great. He showed talent, had standout moments, and helped his team compete at a high level. But did that warrant a major move driven by financial incentives? His transfer feels more like an act of premature ambition rather than a calculated step forward.
Had he won a national championship, the conversation would be different. A title cements a legacy it gives a player undeniable leverage. Instead, he jumped ship before proving he could truly dominate at the highest level. Fans and teammates alike might struggle to justify his decision. Was it about development, or simply chasing a paycheck?
College football has become a business, and players are right to maximize their potential earnings. But loyalty, leadership, and legacy still matter. For Iamaleava, his move may come with greater expectations than he realizes. Because if he doesn’t deliver in his new environment, the critics won’t hold back.
Take Nico Iamaleava, for example. His season was good, but not great. He showed talent, had standout moments, and helped his team compete at a high level. But did that warrant a major move driven by financial incentives? His transfer feels more like an act of premature ambition rather than a calculated step forward.
Had he won a national championship, the conversation would be different. A title cements a legacy it gives a player undeniable leverage. Instead, he jumped ship before proving he could truly dominate at the highest level. Fans and teammates alike might struggle to justify his decision. Was it about development, or simply chasing a paycheck?
College football has become a business, and players are right to maximize their potential earnings. But loyalty, leadership, and legacy still matter. For Iamaleava, his move may come with greater expectations than he realizes. Because if he doesn’t deliver in his new environment, the critics won’t hold back.
Absolutely. Had he led the team to a National Championship, instead of being a slightly above average QB, the conversation would be radically different.
Much of the friction came from most observers thought he was overpaid at the 2 million. And to say he wanted double as if he'd won the Championship had folks
massraider
Footballguy
You talking about what you think is legally plausible, or what you would like to see?
The NCAA can try and get all the teams to agree to a cap on player expenses, but they legally cannot stop a few businessmen from signing a player to an endorsement deal. The school doesn't recognize them as employees, so the students don't need to behave like employees under an employment contract.
And we don't need to try and make new rules just because one QB does something that some people view as greedy. He's not breaking any rules. Nico is simply behaving in a manner that some people don't agree with. That's it.
We didn't change rules every time a coach ditched for a new job, in the middle of a contract, having told a bunch of players he was staying.
osubuckeyeman
Footballguy
I'm on the player's side more than the NCAA. This was bound to happen, and schools were already poaching other schools' talent. And kids were getting paid under the table anyway, before NIL. NIL has a place for the players, or some pay scale needs to be in place. I'm just saying if you're going to make it a pro league, make it a pro league, or don't and put some regulations in place. If you think this will be a one-off, I would disagree. It's the future. I could be wrong, though.
Harry Frogfish
Footballguy
You really think a salary cap would remove the tables they'd all go under again?
eighsse2
Footballguy
I don't know anything about him. But after a quick search, I guess he wanted more money from Tennessee, and they decided to move on to another QB rather than increase his pay. So now he is seeking a new school. Sounds mostly like how things go in the NFL. Is there a main point that I'm missing?
I learned a few months ago that they have "athletic fees" which is essentially a tax on their NIL $ that goes to the university.
It's questionable how it's used. The concept, as I understood it, was to go to disadvantage youth to help fund their education -which is great- but some of the teams and ADs have laid claim to some of the money and it's become debatable.
So, as a response, I think if Nico's "tax" paid for someone else to go to school then (as a fan) I don't think he has to pay anything back. Not by choice, but that's good teammate "good boy" stuff.
Da Guru
Fair & Balanced
College football has we knew it is gone forever.
Playing for the "Good Ole School" is history. College Football is now a semi-pro football league. Much like BB in Europe where teams rarely sign a player for more than 2 years and players hop back and forth from team to team.
It is to the point that players should not even be required to attend class anymore. Get the best NIL deal and be a paid employee for the given school.
Hard to believe this all came from an EA Sports video game.
Playing for the "Good Ole School" is history. College Football is now a semi-pro football league. Much like BB in Europe where teams rarely sign a player for more than 2 years and players hop back and forth from team to team.
It is to the point that players should not even be required to attend class anymore. Get the best NIL deal and be a paid employee for the given school.
Hard to believe this all came from an EA Sports video game.
Max Power
Footballguy
As a Notre Dame fan, we're all hopeful this gives them the edge going forward. They don't get a lot of premium recruits anyway, so the NIL hit isn't the same for them. They may be able to build up the best "team" culture in the current format.
Da Guru
Fair & Balanced
Right now "Team Culture" only means $$$$.
One of my daughters' friends is on the Michigan Football staff. They were talking about recruiting and he said that 75% of the kids they are recruiting don`t care about school, tradition, the program. First thing they ask is how much NIL money will I get paid if I commit. Then they ask about the rest.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
The universities don't want the players classified as employees, though. That's why they're walking this weird tightrope. They'll eventually fail, I think, but having to label the players "employees" opens up all kinds of issues they don't want to deal with.
Snotbubbles
Footballguy
That's a fair point.
Max Power
Footballguy
I believe that, but disagree with the culture part. I still like to think (hope) Notre Dame is less impacted by the money angle due to the tradition and lifestyle there being different from the majority of the big NCAA programs.
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