There's a simple question that Tennessee needs to answer that will tell them if they should give Nico Iamaleava more money
The Tennessee Vols and quarterback Nico Iamaleava are currently engaged in a standoff over the former five-star recruit's NIL deal (Iamaleava didn't attend practice on Friday). According to ESPN's Chris Low, Iamaleava's reps are looking for the California native's NIL deal to be upped to around $4 million (it's believed that Iamaleava's current NIL deal […]
The Tennessee Vols and quarterback Nico Iamaleava are currently engaged in a standoff over the former five-star recruit's NIL deal (Iamaleava didn't attend practice on Friday).
According to ESPN's Chris Low, Iamaleava's reps are looking for the California native's NIL deal to be upped to around $4 million (it's believed that Iamaleava's current NIL deal is worth around $2.5 million annually).
Based on that report, it appears that Iamaleava suiting up for the Vols in 2025 is going to come down to whether Tennessee is comfortable upping his pay to around $4 million, which is what the current market-rate for a College Football Playoff-caliber quarterback seems to be.
If that's indeed the case, then Tennessee really just needs to answer one question to know whether they should give Iamaleava the raise or not.
And that's, "Are we a College Football Playoff team with Iamaleava?"
If the answer is yes, then I think they gotta pay Iamaleava the extra $1.5 million.
If the answer is no, then maybe Tennessee needs to do some soul searching when it comes to its quarterback situation.
Of course, there's another question that Tennessee could ask itself, too.
"Are we a College Football Playoff team with backup quarterback Jake Merklinger serving as the starter?"
That's a much tougher question to answer because Tennessee doesn't know what the fallout will be if Iamaleava enters the NCAA transfer portal (it would be unwise to think that additional players wouldn't entertain the idea of entering the portal if Iamaleava leaves).
It's a tough spot for everyone involved. But college football coaches get paid millions these days to properly navigate these types of situations….
