The Nico Iamaleava saga continues getting deeper as we learn more about the Vols' former quarterback.
Tennessee football and Josh Heupel ended their relationship with the former five-star quarterback after he skipped Friday's practice ahead of the Orange & White Game.
The drama seems to go back much further than this spring and even further past the winter transfer portal window as Nico and his representation tried to leverage the Vols' College Football Playoff berth into more NIL earnings.
247 Sports' Josh Pate confirmed this in his Sunday night "Josh Pate's College Football Show," in which he detailed and discussed the Nico saga.
"This stuff was happening last December during the playoffs — with [Nico] included, but not just this kid," Pate said on his show. "They were trying to get more money from Tennessee and other playoff teams before the playoffs. They were trying to leverage playoff participation.
"The explainer was, 'Our client is being paid X amount of money to participate in 12 games, maybe a 13th if you make the conference championship game. But you guys made the Playoff. He should make money money.' This is the kind of BS that's happening behind the scenes right now."
Nico ultimately played in the College Football Playoff game, and the Vols lost embarrassingly to Ohio State. It seems the drama surrounding Nico could have played a large role in Tennessee's preparation for the game.
The distractions cost the Vols, although it seems unlikely now that Tennessee had much of a chance to beat Ohio State regardless after witnessing their dominant postseason run.
Regardless, Nico seemed to agree with Tennessee to play the game and finish the season. Then, the winter transfer portal came into play, and it was rumored that Nico was prepared to enter the portal.
The Vols were able to negotiate a raise to about $2.4 million for the next year to keep Nico on campus from his original $2 million NIL agreement.
It wasn't enough for Nico and his family, though, as they leveraged the spring transfer portal window against the Vols again, demanding $4 million and shopping Nico's value with other programs.
The continued drama and threats from Nico and his camp clearly frustrated coaches and players, as reported on Friday, which is why the Vols were quick to make the decision to move on from the quarterback less than 24 hours after Tennessee's Friday practice.
Tennessee will now be in the market for a quarterback in the spring transfer portal window, whether that be a big-name quarterback or a depth piece in a thin quarterback room.