Georgia Bulldogs and Kirby Smart continue losing streak in transfer portal as another veteran player leaves
Georgia Bulldogs have been nearly shut out in the transfer portal, adding Khalil Barnes, but now losing Joenel Aguero and more
The Georgia Bulldogs have been striking out almost completely in the transfer portal since it opened nearly a week ago. Kirby Smart and his staff did add Khalil Barnes, a safety from Clemson. Beyond that, they’re missing on critical targets and shedding players at an alarming rate. This time, it was a player who almost nullified the one meaningful acquisition they made via the portal.
Joenel Aguero joins long list of transfers out from Georgia Bulldogs
Most Bulldogs fans have become well acquainted with safety Joenel Aguero over the years. Once an extremely highly touted five-star recruit, Aguero’s career started a bit slow, but he grew into a high-value starter in 2025. Now, he’s apparently out at Georgia, heading to the transfer portal.
Aguero played the fourth most snaps of any defender on the Georgia defense this past season, and is now most certainly the toughest loss to the portal that the Bulldogs have endured up to this point.
Prior to Aguero, mostly backups and young players looking for a fresh start had entered the transfer portal for Georgia, but Aguero now brings the total to 10 departures (with more expected to come soon). Georgia is never a big transfer portal team, but this is an unbelievably slow start for the wins there, and it’s shedding players quickly.
Georgia continues missing out on key transfer targets
Yes, the team added Barnes at safety, then lost a safety in Aguero (which is essentially a talent canceling out at best). Plus, Smart and his staff haven’t shown any signs of life when it comes to the portal, and that needs to change.
They’ve already lost out on Kansas State star wide receiver Jayce Brown to LSU, which would have been the perfect replacement for Zachariah Branch, who just declared for the 2026 NFL Draft. They missed out on USC defensive lineman Devan Thompkins to Alabama. They’ve missed on most every target, with a few exceptions that might be committing here soon, like wide receiver Isaiah Canion from Georgia Tech. Things are clearly getting ugly for the Bulldogs on the transfer front.
Georgia should still be in a prime position to compete with Smart as head coach for many years to come, but it’s become clear that their massive talent edge over almost every roster in the country is gone. They need to start figuring out the transfer portal, and fast. Otherwise, they will continue losing to emerging teams like Ole Miss that invest heavily in every form of talent acquisition available to them.
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