Nico Iamaleava, the big-armed starting quarterback for Tennessee a year ago, has entered the transfer portal after talks of a renegotiated NIL deal with the Volunteers reportedly broke down.
Iamaleava had agreed to a reported $8 million deal for his entire Tennessee career, a number set before the going price for a top college quarterback went up this offseason. ACC programs Miami and Duke are each spending a reported $4 million this year for their transfer additions, Carson Beck from Georgia and Darian Mensah from Tulane.
On a true open market earlier in the offseason, Iamaleava may have had similar options. However, in April there are fewer available landing spots, especially at Iamaleava’s price tag. He is already barred from transferring within the SEC and playing immediately due to league rules. Now, his other opportunities appear to be dwindling.
North Carolina, Tulane and UCLA were three options floated by On3‘s Pete Nakos, who broke the Iamaleava story before his Vols exit. On Monday, he reported that the Tar Heels are out of the running, with their sights on South Alabama’s Gio Lopez. Now, Tulane—which needs to replace Mensah—is also out, per Nakos.
NEWS: Tulane is pulling out of Tennessee transfer QB Nico Iamaleava’s portal recruitment, @PeteNakos_ reports❌https://t.co/OKjW9CvcyQ https://t.co/5z172kscFp pic.twitter.com/fvxKPxxKTG
— On3 (@On3sports) April 15, 2025
Tulane had added quarterback T.J. Finely, a veteran who most recently played for Western Kentucky, in the offseason, but he has been suspended after being arrested for allegeldy stealing a truck. Finley’s attorneys contend that he was the victim of a Facebook Marketplace scam, and that he believed he purchased the vehicle legally.
His absence gives Tulane, one of the top Group of 5 programs, a hole at the sport’s most important position, but it reportedly doesn’t see Iamaleava as an option.
The last remaining team on Nakos’s list, UCLA, makes sense as Iamaleava is a California native, but the Bruins already added Appalachian State transfer Joey Aguilar and it is highly unlikley that the program has anywhere near the NIL budget to add another quarterback at the type of price that Iamaleava wants.
Throw in a quick denial of interest from one of college football’s most aggressive transfer portal coaches, Colorado’s Deion Sanders, and it seems very unlikely that Iamaleava will be college football’s next $4 million man.
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