Tennessee football thought it had the quarterback of the future in Nico Iamaleava, but after a dramatic breakup, the Vols are back in the quarterback market as they figure out who will be the fourth quarterback in five seasons under Josh Heupel.
Former Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray shared his thoughts on the breakup on the "Bring the Juice" podcast, where the topic was brought up and he didn't hold back.
"He kind of put Tennessee in a bad situation when it came to asking for more money," Bray said on the podcast. "And I get it. The market, everything is off the charts. So [Nico] wanted more money, but the numbers don't lie. When you're not in the top 50 for passing yards, rushing yards, none of that.
"But your running back [Dylan Sampson] is a top 10 guy. Your defense [is a] top 10 defense. That's why you're winning games. And then you want to go out and kind of stronghold Tennessee ... if they give it to him, they got to give it to everybody else."
Bray seemed to side with Tennessee, understanding it from a player's perspective, even though he was at Tennessee prior to the NIL era. Bray was at Tennessee from 2010 to 2012, where he led the Vols through some of the dark days between the Phillip Fulmer and Heupel era.
He also discussed the drama that ensued during the negotiations behind the scenes, with Nico's dad leading the negotiations, and how if Tennessee had given in to Nico's demands, it would likely have started a never-ending cycle of the Vols having to shell out money to every player on the roster or risk them transferring.
"That's one thing where you know his dad; I mean, we don't know the full picture either," Bray continued. "His dad could have been trying to make loose behind the scenes.
"Like [Oregon head coach] Dan Lanning's sitting there and calling [Josh Heupel], like, 'Hey, your QB's dad is reaching out to us, talking about transferring.' Who knows what's really going on behind closed doors. But if they give in to him right there, like, "Oh yeah, we'll pay you a bunch of money', then you have your D-end coming up to you next. Then this guy wants more money."
That is the brutality of the current state of the NIL and transfer portal era. Heupel chose to prioritize the team over one player, and it seemed to mitigate the Vols' portal risk.
Tennessee's offense could miss Iamaleava, who had a full year of experience in the Heupel system, but the Vols could also be perfectly fine without him.
The Vols will have to see if Joey Aguilar, Jake Merklinger, or George MacIntyre will step up and earn the starting job this season as they prepare for Fall Camp right around the corner.