Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava is officially in the transfer portal. The passer’s dramatic exit from Knoxville is one step closer to being complete.
In fact, there are some that believe a deal is already in place with his future school. Iamaleava entered the portal with an interesting stipulation given recent headlines.
Nico Iamaleava has a “do not contact” tag. Essentially, he and his camp must reach out to potential suitors before a conversation can be started. QB-needy teams cannot reach out to him first.
Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava has entered the transfer portal with a do not contact tag.
That would seem counterintuitive if what’s been reported over the last few days is true. Let’s start from the beginning.
Nico Iamaleava was being paid more than $2 million per year to be the quarterback at Tennessee. He wanted to renegotiate that deal ahead of the Vols’ College Football Playoff matchup vs. Ohio State.
Iamaleava reportedly asked for $4 million before skipping the spring game. The university said, “No,” and let him walk.
The quarterback’s father insists that there have been other schools that have agreed to meet his $4 million ask. Sports outlets continue to contradict those claims.
Media reports suggest that some of his top potential suitors have already pulled out of the race. They’re unwilling to negotiate unless the price drops significantly.
North Carolina, Colorado, Tulane, USC, and Notre Dame are not interested. ESPN recently wrote that a P4 general manager says there’s “zero market” for the passer. His new transfer value is closer to $1 million, about half of what he was being paid with the Vols.
That information would lead one to believe that a price cut is imminent. Why would Nico Iamaleava limit his transfer options?
Does Nico Iamaleava already have his next deal in place?
Rather than have all interested suitors reach out to Iamaleava and his camp, he’s chosen to shrink his portal pool with his restrictive tag. With that potential price cut looming, it would make more sense to have as many schools reach out as possible. Who knows, maybe a bidding war begins.
The “do not contact” tag doesn’t make sense – unless he knows where he’s going next!
In the past, we’ve seen this stipulation used by players that have already agreed to terms with their new schools. Those players will hit the portal with the insistence that they’re not bombarded with calls from interested parties, only to commit to their next team days or even hours later. Technically, it could be considered tampering, but it happens.
Given how everything in Nico Iamaleava’s dramatic recruitment has played out, it would have to be looked at as a legitimate possibility. His father’s claims of multiple $4 million offers further support the theory.
At this point, UCLA has been the program linked to the signal caller most consistently. It would offer a return to his home state of California with an opportunity to cash in on a Big Ten payroll.
We’ll see how quickly Iamaleava makes his transfer decision, and what his next destination will be. Details surrounding his future deal could lend insight on the negotiation timeline.
Nico Iamaleava is leaving Tennessee. He’s now officially in the portal. He might already know who his next team is. If so, his time on the transfer market could be short-lived.
The post Nico Iamaleava Limits Transfer Options With Stipulation Suggesting His Next Deal Is Already Done appeared first on BroBible.
Nico Iamaleava Limits Transfer Options With Stipulation Suggesting His Next Deal Is Already Done
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