Nico Iamaleava To Transfer To Deion Sanders' Colorado Buffaloes? Why It Doesn't Make Sense

For reasons unbound to reality, multiple media outlets have named the Colorado Buffaloes as a potential transfer portal landing spot for former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

Iamaleava has been the talk of the college football world in recent days due to his sudden fallout with Tennessee. According to reports from ESPN and On3, Iamaleava and Tennessee were at odds over his name, image and likeness (NIL) deal. The redshirt sophomore was expected to make $2.4 million this year but was looking to increase his deal to the $4 million range.

ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Saturday morning that Iamaleava missed Tennessee team meetings and practice on Friday and plans to enter the transfer portal when the spring window opens Wednesday. Iamaleava is currently the highest-ranked player in the transfer portal, according to 247Sports.

While Colorado has certainly recruited the transfer portal well under coach Deion Sanders, targeting Iamaleava doesn't make sense for a variety of reasons. First, incoming freshman Julian "JuJu" Lewis and Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter are well along in their battle to replace the NFL-bound Shedeur Sanders as Colorado's starting quarterback. Salter's experience makes him the likely frontrunner to win the competition this year, but the Buffs have committed a good deal of resources toward making Lewis their quarterback of the future.

Iamaleava is coming off a fairly average season in the SEC. Although he helped Tennessee to the College Football Playoff, Iamaleava was eighth in the conference in passing yards (2,616), seventh in touchdown passes (19) and ninth in total quarterback rating (70.5).

Furthermore, even if Colorado was looking for a starting quarterback in the transfer portal, Iamaleava's hefty NIL demands wouldn't get met in Boulder. The Buffs don't have nearly the same NIL budget as Tennessee, even with the attention "Coach Prime" brings.

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"Coach Prime" has also established a culture at Colorado that prioritizes the NFL over NIL, meaning Sanders wants his players to make their money at the next level.

“When kids come to play for me at Colorado, they come to play for me and the coaching staff that we’ve assembled," Sanders said on ESPN's "First Take" earlier this year. "They hadn’t come to play for money because I let them know that will maintain you. That pro contract is gonna sustain you, so we’re chasing that thing.”

Iamaleava and Sanders clearly don't see eye-to-eye when it comes to NIL in the college game.

"I don’t attract those type of kids that’s playing for a bag," Sanders added. "I attract those type of kids that’s just playing because they love the game. That’s what I want. I don’t like that other thing. That other thing has disrupted a lot of things because kids nowadays are choosing a bag rather than a situation and a place that’s more conducive to their success.”