Nico Iamaleava Leaves Tennessee After NIL Standoff

College football finally has a public, messy contract holdout with all the makings of a high profile NFL negotiation.

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava skipped practice Friday, one day before the team’s spring game amid reports that he was renegotiating a lucrative NIL (name, image, and likeness) deal to stay in Knoxville.

On Saturday, ESPN reported that Iamaleava and Tennessee were parting ways, and the quarterback was entering the portal.

On Thursday, On3 reported Iamaleava was in discussions with Tennessee about a new deal. His previous one signed in 2022 was reported to be upward of $8 million throughout his college career, paying about $2.5 million a year. Before the winter transfer portal closed in December, Iamaleava’s camp wanted a deal worth about $4 million annually, ESPN reported.

The football transfer portal will reopen for 10 days on April 16, next Wednesday. Iamaleava led the Volunteers to the College Football Playoff in what turned out to be his lone full season as the starter in Knoxville, throwing for 19 touchdowns and over 2,600 yards. Both ranked in the middle of the SEC.

The SEC has slightly stricter transfer rules than the NCAA: the league’s deadline to transfer and be eligible for fall sports is Feb. 1. That means Iamaleava can’t play at an SEC school next fall, and Tennessee can’t add an SEC quarterback for the 2025 season.

The quarterback’s representatives denied ongoing negotiations Thursday, and so did his father, Nic, who is the primary point of contact, according to CBS Sports.

“More games being played off the field than on the field,” Nic Iamaleava posted Thursday night. “Bi7ch Nakos from @On3sports called and asked me directly, I told him I had no idea on what he’s talking about. He said his ‘close source’ that he trusts with his life from the University of Tennessee staff gave him this information. So y’all can ask them what’s going on, cuz it ain’t from us!”

Iamaleava skipped practice Friday, which was a surprise to Tennessee, according to ESPN.

Last year, after the NCAA said it would investigate Iamaleava’s deal, the state’s attorney general (along with Virginia) filed a lawsuit against the collegiate governing body. Last February, the infamous Tennessee injunction changed the rules of college sports forever when a federal judge said the NCAA can’t enforce any restrictions around NIL until the case of the attorneys general is settled or goes to trial.

Contract standoffs, holdouts, and hold-ins are commonplace in pro sports. Big NFL names like CeeDee Lamb and Brandon Aiyuk held out last summer, ultimately getting bigger deals.

Other college players may have held out before without contract negotiations spilling into the public. But Iamaleava, who broke ground with his NIL deal as a high school recruit, is now the most prominent college holdout to date.

This developing news story has been updated.