ESPN and SEC Network personality Paul Finebaum joined the conversation surrounding Tennessee football and former quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
Finebaum sided with the Vols in the Nico saga, arguing the former five-star quarterback did not put up numbers worthy of the significant NIL raise he was asking for ahead of the spring transfer portal window.
The former Tennessee quarterback reportedly wanted an increase from $2.4 million to $4 million for the 2025 season, but after rumored holdouts heading into the College Football Playoff and continued holdouts, missed meetings, and missed practices, the Vols chose to move on.
Finebaum says that's because Tennessee did not value Nico at $4 million and clearly didn't believe the effort to keep him was worth the production he would offer in the fall.
That feeling is mutual across the SEC, as Finebaum spoke to several SEC coaches about Nico's value and where he ranks among SEC quarterbacks.
"What's interesting is, he's not that great," Finebaum said. "I talked to various sources around the SEC yesterday, and I said, 'tell me where he ranks out of the 16 quarterbacks in the SEC', and they said, 'somewhere between six and eight'. Tennessee saw the same thing, and that's why he's no longer on the Tennessee roster this morning."
While I believe Nico is better than sixth or eighth in the SEC, his numbers from the 2024 season don't lie. A vast majority of his production came against non-conference opponents, while he struggled to produce in most of Tennessee's bigger SEC matchups.
Now, the Vols are in the market for a quarterback after Nico's departure. Tennessee will look to add a quarterback in the transfer portal after wrapping up its spring camp this past Saturday