When Colorado DB Tawfiq Byard decided to bail to the transfer portal, it immediately got people talking in Boulder. Losing your best defensive player right after a 3–9 season is a tough pill to swallow. Some questioned Deion Sanders’ overall strategy, while others wondered whether Colorado should have paid premium money—allegedly around $500K—to keep their top defender. Deion Sanders’ close associate didn’t like the idea of paying that kind of premium at all. That stance didn’t sit well with a former Colorado Buffs alum.

Earlier this week, Uncle Neely, a well-known insider for the Colorado Buffaloes and a host on Thee Pregame Show, preached that people need to understand college football is a business now. Players are going to leave for better opportunities, especially better paydays (NIL deals), and there’s no point in holding on to players who don’t want to be in Colorado—certainly not by paying premium money:

“Show me someone who’s departed a team and is worth 500K to keep them—just throwing that number at you. Are four pass deflections worth $500,000? Or can we pick up four pass deflections and pass breakups somewhere else? Is one interception worth $500,000? I don’t know. You tell me. Or can we pick up one interception somewhere else?”

Former Colorado Buffs alum and host of Six Zero Academy, Matt McChesney, hopped onto his podcast and started digitally thrashing Uncle Neely:

“Byard is a great kid. I cannot f—ing believe that Colorado is allowing this podcast host propagandist to fing talk about contracts and money, bro. Everything is confidential.”

Spilling numbers out loud can hurt the player and make the program look unprofessional.

Matt believes Colorado shouldn’t think twice about paying for a player of Tawfiq’s caliber. He’s tired of the narrative that only stars like Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders can play, while everyone else is treated as replaceable or not worth the money.

Another big issue for Matt is leadership. He admits you might find similar stats somewhere else, but leadership is harder to replace. Fair enough—nobody would come close to replicating Tawfiq’s leadership. Tawfiq Byard was the heart and soul of Colorado’s defense in 2025.

The coolest part about his leadership was his pure toughness. He played about half the season with a broken hand in a heavy cast—and actually played better after the injury. Plus, he was a menace on the field.

The younger brother of three-time NFL Pro Bowler Kevin Byard led the entire Buffaloes team with 85 tackles, and his 57 solo tackles were the most by any safety in the Big 12 Conference. He’s a certified playmaker, forcing two fumbles and racking up eight tackles for loss—pretty great for a safety.

So yes, you can understand why McChesney is losing his cool over Byard testing the waters in the portal while Colorado seems to turn a blind eye. Matt is frustrated that Colorado allows Uncle Neely to speak as if he represents the university or carries institutional authority.

“I mean, dog, come on. What are we doing, Colorado? Who are we allowing to be the mouthpiece for this f—ing university?”

Well, it’s too early to say where this is going, and the situation is very murky. But does Colorado need to retain its best talent and locker-room leader? Absolutely—at a reasonable price, if they want him there. The Buffs need to come up clutch fast if they want Tawfiq back in that locker room leading the men. Once the portal opens, it’s only a matter of time before someone swoops in and gets him, even if that means paying $500K or more.

What’s going on in Boulder?

When the transfer portal opened, a lot of players from the Colorado Buffaloes decided to leave. We’re talking about a sizable group, with at least 17 players heading out the door during the current window. A majority of media and analysts labeled it a “mass exodus” and questioned whether Colorado and Deion Sanders have lost credibility following the departures of Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter.

So, is Coach Deion Sanders “losing the team”? It doesn’t seem that simple. He believes in heavily using the transfer portal to bring in talent that can make an immediate impact. The real question is whether Colorado will spend money in the portal and rebuild the program with quality players—similar to what Texas Tech did. That’s the only path forward for Deion Sanders now.

Right now, it doesn’t look like they’re ready to spend big, even on players like Tawfiq Byard. That’s what makes this situation especially intriguing.

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Mind you, Deion Sanders is on borrowed time. The only way he can make it through the next season without getting fired is by delivering a winning season—by any means necessary.

Word is Colorado has 35 scholarship spots available. Obviously, they are last in the Big 12 in terms of recruiting class ranking. Sanders will have to gamble once again in the transfer portal and hope the players pan out. He did it before, pulling in the No. 1 transfer portal class in 2024.

Back then, he had Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders to show for it. Now, he needs something else to convince quality players to play for him.