According to Will West, "negotiations" were always about getting more receivers, OL

[tennrich1]

West and Tyler are the reasons I can’t listen to the sports animal. Both are horrible.

If that’s the two guys in the late afternoon I absolutely refuse to listen to both of them. I’m not local so I’ll listen online when I’m walking but absolutely cannot listen to those two in late afternoon ….they are absolutely pathetic. Talking about favorite movies, favorite food etc …..ridiculous! So I wouldn’t trust anything neither one of them said. Actually John Wilkerson in the morning about the only one I can listen to.

 

[volanatic]

Don’t know much about Knoxville media. But I do know Will West is a moron

This couldn’t be said any better. I don’t listen to the 99.1 afternoon show. Can’t stand either of those idiots, but especially Will West. He used to not be so obnoxious but over time has become unbearable and just annoying.

 

[VolBallGuy]

$100 says he gone

 

[onevol74]

It's $2 million a year. It'll cost more to get another P4 caliber out of the portal if they go that direction. Regardless of this situation, we aren't ponying up money to be an elite football program.

$4mil would probably scholarship 10 doctors through medical school or scholarship a whole class of nursing students at UTK which would be money well spent. Show me where Nico is elite.

 

[onevol74]

I hope not, he's been everything we should hope for from a future VFL since he's been here. He just needed 1 more season under his belt before he could puff his chest out and ask for more money.

He needs to learn to read defenses first.

 

[volnado2]

At the end of the day he is 20 years old have just a smidge of grace. It’s clear his father is not afraid of controversy just look at his Twitter. Nico may love the situation he is in, but his father is pulling the strings.

 

[tombowalker]

It makes sense though. If the goal is to be a high NFL draft pick then you need the best team around you. Nico and his family could be looking at the current talent level on offense and seeing that they need more help if Nico is to maximize his potential and be a 1st round pick.

It's actually more plausible than him trying to squeeze another million or two out of us when franchise QBs are making $60 million a year now. Maximum NFL money could be the goal rather than maximum NIL money.

Meh. It matters less than you think. NFL scouts look at combine scores, 40 times, footwork, arm talent and his ability to make reads. The talent around him isn’t all that relevant.

 

[TAF]

 

[Vol865]

$4mil would probably scholarship 10 doctors through medical school or scholarship a whole class of nursing students at UTK which would be money well spent. Show me where Nico is elite.

100k aren't showing up to watch a doctor do surgery. They are showing up to watch a good football team. Nico makes the team more competitive. Welcome to capitalism.

With that said, I'm at the point where whatever happens, happens.

 

[TAF]

 

[Knuckleheaded]

This couldn’t be said any better. I don’t listen to the 99.1 afternoon show. Can’t stand either of those idiots, but especially Will West. He used to not be so obnoxious but over time has become unbearable and just annoying.

Will West tries to be a small town version of Stephen A. Smith-- obnoxious day after day, topic after topic. His show with Tyler Ivans is awful, absolutely awful .

 

[Legion of Doom]

100k aren't showing up to watch a doctor do surgery. They are showing up to watch a good football team. Nico makes the team more competitive. Welcome to capitalism.

With that said, I'm at the point where whatever happens, happens.

Nico is overrated and not worth the 2 million even. Jake Merklinger will do just fine. 11 of his only 19 TD passes were in games vs Vandy, Chattanooga, and UTEP. Good on Heupel for telling his greedy family no.

 

[Vol865]

Nico is overrated and not worth the 2 million even. Jake Merklinger will do just fine. 11 of his only 19 TD passes were in games vs Vandy, Chattanooga, and UTEP. Good on Heupel for telling his greedy family no.

I'm not putting any more energy into this when I don't even know who will be here. Have at it.

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

Then Nico would be asking for less money where more money could be spent on WR and OL. He would be saying he wants to take less to improve the team and TN and Nico’s PR team would be making sure every sports outlet wrote that story to make him look good.

^^^^^^^ this^^^^^^right^^^^^here^^^^^^^^

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

TN is a top 10 NIL program... Money doesn't grow on trees... There is many others getting paid on the team too... Nico was paid fairly for his position and results... He got 2M sitting mostly his first year... 2M was fair for his first season as a starter... He balls out this year he has the choice to go pro or get the pay he wanted this year if he decided to stay... Tennessee has played this the way they should... If his Dad and crew really had faith in his talent they would have stayed and been loyal to the University that went to bat for him when the NCAA tried to deem him ineligible

2 million for an unproven undeveloped athlete is asinine. 8 million is just stupid.

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

1 word...ARCH

Yeah that ain't gonna happen in this universe

 

[Majors]

it’s some truth as any player would want better talent around him. We got Sanders but didn’t really upgrade in areas of need in the portal.

 

[Pride85]

Everything we could hope for except being a man of his word…..There is no I in Team especially come Spring

This should not be a negotiation at all. I detest NIL as it is, and this is exactly why. ANY player that pulls this stunt should have the NIL agreement nullified and be shown the door immediately. I don't care how good their stats are or how well the team did the year before...period. I thought Nico was going to be good, but he has turned himself into a team cancer now.

 

[ButchPlz]

Will West trying to play the heel but being too stupid to not contradict himself and do it right.

Fitting that the only dingleberry that'll have him on is Hooker.

 

[Redheads]

Then Nico would be asking for less money where more money could be spent on WR and OL. He would be saying he wants to take less to improve the team and TN and Nico’s PR team would be making sure every sports outlet wrote that story to make him look good.

Just like Payton and Tom Brady did throughout their careers. They didn’t care about being the highest paid guys, just wanted to win. Consistently took less money to help the team.

 

[TJVol95]

I've not been following this story, so I have no bias one way or another. I just know that in any controversial, breaking story, THE TRUTH will be elusive and more money will be made off of speculation, innuendo, and half-truths.

For whatever it's worth, here's today's interview with Will West of 99.1 The Sports Animal, offering what he's been able to learn:

We got 2 good ones from the portal and a 5*. We kept one good one from leaving, one good one from Bama and putting Boo both ways. Crybaby Nico can get lost if this isn’t good enough.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

Meh. It matters less than you think. NFL scouts look at combine scores, 40 times, footwork, arm talent and his ability to make reads. The talent around him isn’t all that relevant.

This is how they should do it. By why is it that almost every year the player who wins the heisman (which typically goes to the college player who puts up the best stats) ends up going high in the draft. In particular QBs who can go from not even being in the discussion of a 1st round pick to being in the top 5. Just last year nobody had Jayden Daniels as a first round pick before the season. He wins the heisman after putting up monster stats and goes #2 overall. In 2017 Baker Mayfield went from a guy who nobody had as a first rounder to the 1st overall pick after winning the heisman. Same with Joe Burrow.

The prospects like Trevor Lawrence that are gonna go #1 overall no matter what based on physical traits are rare. Usually it's a combination of physical traits and production that gets you drafted high. And the higher your production the more likely draft experts are to overlook your physical limitations. A great example of this is our very own Derek Barnett. I got into a lot of trouble before the 2017 draft saying he wasn't a 1st round caliber player based on his lack of elite physical traits. Nonetheless he still went in the 1st round because his production was elite. Unlike defensive end, QB production is dependent on other players. So if a QB prospect wants to improve his draft position by putting up monster stats then it makes sense to want other great players around you.

 

[CAVPUT]

Nailed it, brother. It all stinks. Another example of the "Pandora's Box" in today's college sports scene.

Thought that very thing while remembering the words from a lot of our posters celebrating players getting their "bag" when the NIL came on to the scene. The sport just kind of jumped into the deep end without considering the consequences and most importantly....human nature/greed. Kinda like making an impulsive lane change without double checking the side mirror. Now you got a major wreck on your hands.....or should I say a feeding frenzy? Such a mess.

 

[Jimmyandjoes]

It's $2 million a year. It'll cost more to get another P4 caliber out of the portal if they go that direction. Regardless of this situation, we aren't ponying up money to be an elite football program.

That's it.. It's gonna cost about 4 to get a QB because that's the rate.
Sellers and Lagway were making over 20% more if the numbers are legit.
Would you bitch and moan if your co worker was making 75k while you were making 60k doing the same job with the same results?
It's been handled absolutely terrible but TN should not have let it get this far. What other program are losing their starter before the spring game? This is amateur hour. Absolute black eye all around

 

[VolJarhead]

That's it.. It's gonna cost about 4 to get a QB because that's the rate.
Sellers and Lagway were making over 20% more if the numbers are legit.
Would you bitch and moan if your co worker was making 75k while you were making 60k doing the same job with the same results?
It's been handled absolutely terrible but TN should not have let it get this far. What other program are losing their starter before the spring game? This is amateur hour. Absolute black eye all around

Keep in mind, he was paid well to sit on the bench. He was paid to learn. You could argue that he should have never been paid this way to be brought to the university. Maybe he shouldn't have received his first check until this year. If I was on the line and watching my coworker make millions because I didn't let someone rip his head off, I might be upset on that end as well. I see a lot more value in paying 2 million to some big beast up front and giving up another 2 million to a quarterback. Get a premier offensive line and my 50 year old ass can run through the holes they make.

However this works out, I'm not a fan of Nico going forward and honestly hope he is gone unless some magical revelation pops up proving this wasn't true.