Tennessee, Nico Iamaleava working out NIL deal ahead of transfer window: report

Tennessee is hoping to sign star quarterback Nico Iamaleava to a new NIL deal in hopes he won't enter the transfer portal, which opens up next week.

Tennessee hopes to keep quarterback Nico Iamaleava from entering the football transfer portal before it opens next week. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Tennessee and quarterback Nico Iamaleava are negotiating a new multi-million dollar NIL deal in the days before the spring transfer window is set to open, according to On3 Sports.

The timing of the talks creates a potentially tense situation for the Volunteers as college football’s spring transfer portal window will open this coming Wednesday.

Despite that concern, it “remains unclear” whether the talks will have any impact either way on Iamaleava possibly entering the transfer portal, according to the report.

That would certainly be a situation Tennessee wants to avoid, putting pressure on the program and its NIL collective to hammer out a new deal with the quarterback sooner rather than later.

Iamaleava signed a landmark NIL pact with the Vols that reportedly made him college football’s highest-paid quarterback at more than $2 million per year back in 2022.

But the NIL market has dramatically shifted since then, especially when it comes to high-profile quarterbacks.

Carson Beck is reputed to have signed an NIL deal worth up to $4 million when he transferred to Miami, and Darian Mensah is said to have inked a $4 million per year deal at Duke.

Tennessee is set to play its Orange and White Game on Saturday at Neyland Stadium, and the quarterback’s next media appearance is scheduled for after the scrimmage.

Iamaleava was a major recruiting gain for Tennessee, signing with the program as a five-star prospect, playing 18 games and starting 14 contests for the Volunteers.

In his career, the quarterback has 2,930 passing yards with 21 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, rushing for 435 additional yards and 6 more touchdowns.

Last season as the full-time starter, Iamaleava passed for 2,616 yards with 19 touchdowns and 5 picks, leading the Vols to a 10-3 record and its first appearance in the College Football Playoff.

Now the race is on for Big Orange to get its quarterback’s name on a deal to his liking.

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Update: A person close to the Iamaleava family has denied that the quarterback is negotiating a new deal with Tennessee in comments to CBS Sports.

“The family are happy [with Tennessee],” a friend of the family told the outlet. “There are no [contract negotiations], they’re happy with the contract they have.”

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