Ex-Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava's UCLA NIL salary is not $4M, or anywhere close yet

Nico Iamaleava said, "I'm a leavin'" Tennessee in a shocking move that stunned college football.

Even more stunning, the former Tennessee Volunteers electric, albeit inconsistent, QB1 chose to go back home to play near his hometown of Long Beach, California. No, not to the USC Trojans, but to the non-juggernaut UCLA Bruins.

Iamaleava, still only 20, was set to make $2.2 million for the Vols next season, but apparently he wanted somewhere in the $4 million range that ex-Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck reportedly received to play for the Miami Hurricanes.

Nico Iamaleava — Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Unfortunately, reports continue to circulate that as of this posting, Iamaleava might have a hard time even matching the $2.2 million he would have made at Tennessee.

According to The Athletic's Scott Dochterman, UCLA is pretty much broke, spending $200 million more dollars than revenue brought in in the past five years. At least that was until they joined the exponentially more lucrative Big Ten, where they're expected to earn a cool $75 million this season.

UCLA allegedly has a newly restructured NIL collective to called Champion of Westwood, which is supposed to compete for top-tier talent like Iamaleava. Bruins for Life is the football-specific subdivision. (Speaking of "I'm a leavin,'" Nico's younger brother Madden, also a quarterback, bolted UCLA for the Arkansas Razorbacks.)

Iamaleava wanted somewhere in the ballpark of Carson Beck's reported $4.3 million NIL salary. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

But that's not taking into account all the other mouths UCLA has to feed, especially with its storied men's college basketball program. Can they really come close to competing at that SEC level?

Unsubstantiated reports have circulated that Nico is expected to make in the $2 million range, but nothing has been confirmed. In heavily taxed California, that wouldn't bring home nearly as much as a no-income-tax state like Tennessee.

In the end, maybe Iamaleava and Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel had a falling out that was unrecoverable. Maybe Nico was extremely home sick and was enticed by DeShaun Foster, also a former running back for the Bruins.

Maybe we'll find out the real answer on that and his NIL salary, but it would be shocking if it was anywhere near that $4 million number.