Buckle up, folks! Time for some scoop! Right now, the only narrative that is keeping the college football fans on their toes is the Nico Iamaleava drama ft. Josh Heupel’s Tennessee Volunteers. The young chap has chosen to swap wagons. But so what? Fans and analysts are yet to be done bringing him down and dragging him through the mud. And with every passing day, the mudslinging only gets dirtier. From calling him out for being money-minded, the attackers have dived straight into questioning his loyalty. The new charge brought against the quarterback is his role in Tennessee’s playoff manipulation. While Iamaleava had to break his silence, his new chapter comes with a reality check. Turns out the reason why he left Heupel’s troop is going to pester him more.   

So what made Tennessee hit the brakes for Iamaleava? Long story short, the quarterback’s idea of a “maximum possible” paycheck way overshot what Tennessee was willing to pay. Heupel and Co. were already paying him $2 million. But, reportedly, Iamaleava and his people were looking for a $4 million per year bump in his NIL earnings. That’s when they got struck with the Vols’ ‘we-don’t-negotiate’ counterstrike. And BOOM! Attacks started to pour in from all sides.

Seeing this ugly side of NIL, Miami HC Mario Cristobal had sent a stern warning. Taking his reference, he said, “If anyone is thinking that, they can be the best player in the world. If they wanna play holdout, they might as well play get out.” Then came analyst and critic, Paul Finebaum, who landed an attack on the Iamaleava family: “We’re talking about a greedy family who didn’t think $2.4 million was enough.”

Somehow, the quarterback was not allowing the critical comments to sink under his skin. But things just got deeper and messier. Iamaleava has been the subject of a rumor by some who believe that the ex-Vols quarterback threw the playoff game against Ohio State. The fact that the Vols lost in convincing fashion 42-17, in Columbus in the event’s opening round, fueled the rumor. So, that’s when he took the matter into his own hands.

On April 18, Iamaleava posted a photo from that first-round game and added a witty caption on IG. It read, “Damn I tried to sit out and throw the playoff game too? 😂😂.” He further added how the haters never fail to entertain him with their silly remarks. “These boys just make me laugh man ain’t no way. 😂”

To make things spicier, Iamaleva followed it up with a reference photo of him standing beside former teammate Navy Shuler. For the caption, he wrote, “Me and Navy Shuler talm [talk] about how ima throw this game rq.” Well, it’s hard to believe that the quarterback threw the game for the Vols or otherwise gave less than his full effort. After all, the Ohio State came off as a formidable force, dominating largely on both sides. Their spirited defensive effort throttled the Vols’ ground game. While Iamaleava takes an exit with a heavy burden of blame, his fortune is going to witness a $1 million loss.      

Did Nico Iamaleava just pass on big funds while playing it smart? 

What if Iamaleava’s NIL drama is not over with UCLA? Well, that’s likely to be the case. The former Vols quarterback moves on with a “do not contact” me label. In that way, he must be super sure about where he wants to land. Right now, the UCLA Bruins are trending in the conversation. But columnist Bill Plaschke had sounded an alarm for the college program. “UCLA, don’t do it! Don’t take him! This kid is toxic. He wants to nearly double his money even though he hasn’t won a playoff game, and he walks out on the team in spring practice, he leaves, just takes off, leaves them with nothing.”

The quarterback is now looking at UCLA as his next destination, but for far less cash. According to multiple reports, several programs are interested in Iamaleava if he’s willing to take closer to $1 million. The UCLA Bruins remain loosely linked. In that case, Iamaleava’s motive will remain unfulfilled. After all, he took the bold move of walking out of Heupel’s squad as he wanted to squeeze in $4 million. But now will have to settle for less. And this surely is going to have an after-effect.

After all, Nico Iamaleava holds an NIL valuation of $2.1 million. Grabbing his dream deal would have boosted his valuation to $6.1 million. However, going by the current situation, he can’t expect his NIL reserve to cross $3.1 million. Poor Iamaleava! He is facing one snub after another. Many fans and analysts assumed that programs like Tulane, UCLA, and North Carolina were possible destinations. But Bill Belichick is no longer a part of the race, as they are now pursuing South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez. Moving out of Tennessee—did Iamaleava just downgrade his destiny?