In just 24 hours, Nico Iamaleava managed to flip his CFB journey into what might be the wildest punchline of the offseason. The moment On3 dropped the update about Nico ditching Vols spring practice and entering ‘active contract negotiations’ with Rocky Top, we knew the storm was coming—and yep, it hit harder than a blindside sack. “Zero interest” and “zero market” pretty much sum up Nico’s hunt for a new school because, from what we have seen, almost no one in the Power 5 is willing to place a bet on this guy. And honestly, why would they? Take his 2024 conquest with Tennessee as an example. $2.2-2.4 million price tag for a mediocre run and a hilarious poor performance.

And well, if that ain’t enough, now his brother is out here cutting down his shot at getting a bigger paycheck at a different school. “UCLA is holding strong on its offer to Nico Iamaleava, which is significantly less than $4M,” On3 revealed on Instagram. Now you might wonder why the Bruins are still clenching their teeth—well, that heartbreak goes by the name Madden Iamaleava. The guy flipped from UCLA to the Razorbacks on Signing Day. Freakin’ imagine that sting.

Now, let’s say UCLA somehow decides to turn a blind eye to Nico’s brother’s drama—do you really think DeShaun Foster is out here looking for a QB1 who, despite having top-tier talent at Tennessee, couldn’t even crack 3k yards and barely scraped 19 touchdowns? That’s not leadership; it’s more like a red flag.

And this flag continues to get brighter when you get down to the demands Nico is putting on the table. A $4 million deal? Seriously? For what? So that he can go 60% completion in every game? No, thank you. At this point, even Vols fans would agree that Tennessee’s once “highest-rated quarterback signing” has turned into a big nothing-burger.

We are kind of sure that this Bruins deal is going to go right out the window, along with the BIG claims Nico’s dad had made hours before.

Major pay cut disguised as major pay rise for Nico Iamaleava

72 hours after Nico left Rocky Top, Blue Bloods Bias dropped a massive update. “Transfer QB Nico Iamaleava is set to receive a MAJOR pay raise at his new school.” Apparently, Nico’s father had hinted at a four-million payday for his son. You wanna know the funny part? Yeah, Tulane, UCLA, and the Tar Heels were on the offer board. Allegedly.

We can strike off the Green Wave without blinking, and now, with UCLA practically folding their hand, they’re out too. But the Tar Heels? Oh, now that’s a conversation we’d pay to overhear—imagine Bill Belichick sitting across from Nico, talking NIL deals like it’s draft night. Popcorn-worthy stuff, honestly.

Cause let’s be real—us and the fans both know Bill Belichick isn’t throwing a single dime over a mil. Man probably brings a calculator to NIL talks. Keeping all of this aside, what Nico truly needs is better advice. “Nico Iamaleava needs to put up walls between him and his handlers,” was something NIL attorney Darren Heitner had suggested while this entire “Nico NIL drama” was unfolding.

It is funny that this once promising QB is now the b-tt of every single joke on almost every single forum or sub-reddits. Looks like Nick Saban wasn’t wrong after all. All this NIL greed is definitely taking college football in the wrong direction.