Tennessee & Nico Iamaleava are in active contract negotiations ahead of the 2025 season

#626
#626
Tennman said:
sad world we now live in. I bet Nico just wants to play ball and loves the University of Tennessee and his coaches, teammates and most fans ( probably more till yesterday). Sad is the person or people he has pushing this for more money. Sad is I"m sure we aren't the only school this is happening.
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Did his agent or dad fly into Knoxville and physically stop him from going to practice? Probably not. If he loved it so much, he would quit letting daddy nickel and dime.
 
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#628
#628
Update!

"Iamaleava’s reps were adamant Thursday to news outlets that there was no NIL renegotiation going on. But sources tell ESPN there has been growing frustration among the administration and players about the situation, especially when Iamaleava didn’t show for practice."
 
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#629
#629
Mator said:
How many snaps did Peyton have, how many did Tee have, how many did Clausen have, how many did Ainge have?

They cave to his demands especially the timing of this, they'll have problems from here on. It's not winning at any cost when those costs come with likely collateral damage to the program.
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It's a bit of a crap shoot either way. A program on the downslope is harder to recruit for than a winning program.

If we're going from 10-2 to 8-4 or worse for a year or two, it's harder to sell recruits that you're still a winner worth considering. We've already trailed the really heavy hitters in the SEC in recruiting many years and though we've worked the portal well, lots of that had to do with the "Hendon Hooker magic" and our exciting offense.

If the offense cools a lot due to talent gaps, the recruiting cools too unless you're tossing big money around.
 
#630
#630
Tennman said:
sad world we now live in. I bet Nico just wants to play ball and loves the University of Tennessee and his coaches, teammates and most fans ( probably more till yesterday). Sad is the person or people he has pushing this for more money. Sad is I"m sure we aren't the only school this is happening.
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Was thinking about that just a bit ago... for all I know, he skipped practice because he knew he was going to be made available to media after, and he just couldn't deal with the questions about a show his dad and agent are running. If that's true though then sometime he's just gonna have to sack up and say whose show this is.
 
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#631
#631
This is what really confuses me.....

If he stays here and has a great year, he can declare for the NFL, get drafted, and sign a lucrative deal....

Leaving, you get $2M this year. You have to learn a new playbook, learn new WRs, OL, etc. And do all that in fall practice only. Maybe takes a step back? Or lowers himself on the draft board? Now he is having to go another year at college, or go pro and drop to a later round?

Which one loses you the most money? To me, you get $2M more to transfer, but potentially give up multiple millions in potential rookie contract because you have to go back to step one in learning an offense and players and build that chemistry.

IDK....seems like a short-sighted decision.
 
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#632
#632
FranklinVFL said:
This is what really confuses me.....

If he stays here and has a great year, he can declare for the NFL, get drafted, and sign a lucrative deal....

Leaving, you get $2M this year. You have to learn a new playbook, learn new WRs, OL, etc. And do all that in fall practice only. Maybe takes a step back? Or lowers himself on the draft board? Now he is having to go another year at college, or go pro and drop to a later round?

Which one loses you the most money? To me, you get $2M more to transfer, but potentially give up multiple millions in potential rookie contract because you have to go back to step one in learning an offense and players and build that chemistry.

IDK....seems like a short-sighted decision.
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He could go to Colorado and put up good numbers against garbage defenses to be honest. But yeah it’s not great to be switching systems with only fall camp to prepare.
 
#633
#633
This has gone from playing a few top players under the table to a no limit annual player auction. Who can purchase the best team this year? What will it take 30 million, 50 million?? Any rule the NCAA comes with will be taken to court unless the players had a hand in it creation. College football is dead.
 
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#638
#638
From Patrick Brown at 247





“Skipping practice is a clear hold-out move. From what I've heard over the past couple of hours it hasn't done him any favors with a lot of folks on campus from players to administration. It also is sounding increasingly like Tennessee isn't going to budge.”





Also, Tux who used to post on Gridscape and had ties to the AD said he doesn’t see Nico staying. Assuming that’s the same Tux
 
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#640
#640
MiramarVol said:
This could divide the locker room.
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NIL in general could. Think about an OL who wants to play for UT for the right reasons. He doesn’t get much of a deal, if any. He drives an old truck around, etc and he’s protecting a QB who has millions lined up before he even takes a meaningful snap, rolls around in a Mercedes or something, nicest clothes, women all over him, wears sunglasses all the time, thinks his 💩 don’t stink. And yet, the OL knows if he whiffs a block or something, the QB all of a sudden ain’t all that.
Could happen, probably does happen. That’s why I said this whole thing is like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube and the UT AD and coaches are gonna have to square it away on their end. It’s just a shame that a game has been ruined by this crap.
 
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#641
#641
BigorangeBoy said:
From Patrick Brown at 247





“Skipping practice is a clear hold-out move. From what I've heard over the past couple of hours it hasn't done him any favors with a lot of folks on campus from players to administration. It also is sounding increasingly like Tennessee isn't going to budge.”





Also, Tux who used to post on Gridscape and had ties to the AD said he doesn’t see Nico staying. Assuming that’s the same Tux
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Why would Tennessee budge? He got paid for sitting on the bench for a year and last years numbers are unimpressive when you look at the big games. And he’s clearly not getting paid to be a “team leader” at this point.
 
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#642
#642
FranklinVFL said:
This is what really confuses me.....

If he stays here and has a great year, he can declare for the NFL, get drafted, and sign a lucrative deal....

Leaving, you get $2M this year. You have to learn a new playbook, learn new WRs, OL, etc. And do all that in fall practice only. Maybe takes a step back? Or lowers himself on the draft board? Now he is having to go another year at college, or go pro and drop to a later round?

Which one loses you the most money? To me, you get $2M more to transfer, but potentially give up multiple millions in potential rookie contract because you have to go back to step one in learning an offense and players and build that chemistry.

IDK....seems like a short-sighted decision.
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Folks here say "he's not lived up to potential" yet he's still a top pick on the 2026 draft boards.

Something is not jiving there. He'd have to suck really bad to fall too far given that he's often the #2 QB on most 2026 NFL draft boards.

He's not taking a huge risk unless he transfers to a non-Power 4 school. Have a mediocre year (like many say last year was) and declare for the draft and be the #2 or #3 QB in the draft.
 
#644
#644
SayUWantAreVOLution said:
Folks here say "he's not lived up to potential" yet he's still a top pick on the 2026 draft boards.

Something is not jiving there. He'd have to suck really bad to fall too far given that he's often the #2 QB on most 2026 NFL draft boards.

He's not taking a huge risk unless he transfers to a non-Power 4 school. Have a mediocre year (like many say last year was) and declare for the draft and be the #2 or #3 QB in the draft.
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"2026 draft boards" are beyond worthless in April of 2025. Tyler Bray was the #1 overall pick on one "draft board" after his sophomore year.
 
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#645
#645
SayUWantAreVOLution said:
Folks here say "he's not lived up to potential" yet he's still a top pick on the 2026 draft boards.

Something is not jiving there. He'd have to suck really bad to fall too far given that he's often the #2 QB on most 2026 NFL draft boards.

He's not taking a huge risk unless he transfers to a non-Power 4 school. Have a mediocre year (like many say last year was) and declare for the draft and be the #2 or #3 QB in the draft.
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Early draft boards are just bogus click bait crap to run a few extra adds or get a little engagement.
 
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#648
#648
BigorangeBoy said:
From Patrick Brown at 247





“Skipping practice is a clear hold-out move. From what I've heard over the past couple of hours it hasn't done him any favors with a lot of folks on campus from players to administration. It also is sounding increasingly like Tennessee isn't going to budge.”





Also, Tux who used to post on Gridscape and had ties to the AD said he doesn’t see Nico staying. Assuming that’s the same Tux
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it’s public now for him to not return for a reason.
 
#649
#649
LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
Lol if you think the guy who ran out of bounds to lose a game, went a whole month without scoring a single first half point, and led the 11th best passing offense in SEC play was “extremely good,” then you are out of your mind. There is no world where that guy was “extremely good.” He was the weakest part of the team, and he had more to do with the struggles of the O Line and receivers than vice versa.
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I second that opinion, Joe Milton number 2 in what I saw.
 
#650
#650
So let's say he goes to another school and has a Heisman season. He very well could, and we very well could win six or seven games and end up in the No-Name Bowl. I can hear the fan base now -- "We should have paid him."

This is what a free market looks like. He has a desirable skill set. If he can make more money than he's currently making, he should. I love my job. But if someone comes along and offers me double my salary, I'm doing what's right for me and my family. Why do we expect these athletes to settle for less than current market value when most of us wouldn't in our own lives?
 
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