SEC GM Tabs LSU Football's Roster 'Most Expensive in the Sport' Amid Top Portal Haul

Lane Kiffin took America by storm in January after dominating in the NCAA Transfer Portal with nine Top-100 players signing with the LSU Tigers amid a historic stretch for the program.

Once Kiffin arrived in Baton Rouge, the Tigers' new decision-maker called his shot. He knew with the resources LSU attained that this would be possible in order to ink an all-time portal class.

"Then go to the portal, which I have zero concern about the interest of players with that, because I know what the interest was of players nationally to come play for us where we were just at, and now when you put that with this stadium and with that logo, I mean, makes me want to get on the phone right now, but the portal is not open," Kiffin said on Dec. 1.

Now, LSU has the No. 1 Transfer Portal haul in America with a trio of players coming in as top-five players overall to go with nine Top-100 signees.

"Lane Kiffin held the transfer portal king title at Ole Miss. He hasn’t missed a beat since arriving at LSU in December, as LSU has given him the war chest to assemble one of the top portal classes this offseason. He restocked the Tigers’ talent pool with three of the top five players in the transfer portal, according to the On3 Industry Transfer Portal Ranking," On3 Sports wrote.

"Kiffin battled Tennessee and Miami to land the quarterback he wanted in Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt. Despite coming off a season-ending injury, the hope is that time with Kiffin and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. will only elevate his game."

But college football general managers are quickly keeping tabs on LSU with decision-makers belleving the Tigers will have the most expensive roster in the sport, according to multiple reports.

TRENDING: LSU was named the TOP transfer portal spender by 10 of 14 Power Four GM’s 👀 Texas, Texas Tech, and Miami were the primary three mentioned with the Tigers. The interview was done by Pete Nakos of On3.

“They (LSU) got the most expensive roster in the sport.”
-An SEC GM… pic.twitter.com/1XEF8kVGZQ
— Recruits CFB (@recruits_cfb) February 24, 2026

One Southeastern Conference General Manager reportedly believes the roster could be north of $40 million after Kiffin inked Leavitt, Princewill Umanmielen, and Jordan Seaton as the headliners.

Now, with the top talent in America, all eyes are on the purple and gold heading into the 2026 season for Kiffin's inaugural campaign at the helm of the LSU Tigers.

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