Nico Iamaleava may be the biggest name in college football’s spring transfer portal window, but Paul Finebaum thinks any school interested in going after the quarterback should think twice.
“I would stay away from him,” Finebaum said on WJOX Radio. “Buyer beware of this guy.”
“It’s not even Nico. It’s the whole apparatus. I mean, you’re not dealing… Something tells me Nico is not personally in the middle of these negotiations. Team Nico is,” he added.
“There is a toxic feeling about this player because of the attention and because he is the one that everyone is talking about. And I would be very careful.”
It’s common for players to have not only formal representatives who work on their behalf with schools in the NIL era, but also a coterie of unofficial advisors from among their family and friends, and it is believed Iamaleava’s father has been involved in the process.
Whatever advice Iamaleava has been getting, it resulted in his departing Tennessee despite starting every game for the team last season, culminating in the school’s first appearance in the College Football Playoff.
But it was revealed that the quarterback was hoping to rework his NIL deal with Tennessee in order to bring his revenue more in line with the updated market value.
Iamaleava was said to have been receiving around $2.4 million in his NIL package with the Vols, but other quarterbacks had recently signed deals worth a reputed $4 million annually.
Whatever the number he was after, Tennessee was firm in not moving from its position, and was content to let its starting quarterback enter the transfer portal instead.
And while Finebaum acknowledges the drama around the quarterback in the wake of his bombshell transfer, there’s no doubt he’s still a quality player.
“He’s a good quarterback,” he said. “He’s by far a better option than some guy who can really get signals in from the coach on the sideline.
“But I don’t think, in the short term, that’s all we’re really talking about with him. He is going to make a significant difference. Can he help? Sure.”
“You also have to decide what is the cost,” Finebaum said.
“Everywhere he goes, there’s going to be this little halo around him that says he held out, he asked for money, he’s a problem child, stay away.”
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