After $4 million NIL demand, Nico Iamaleava suffers huge blow at UCLA with his latest contract

Quarterback Nico Iamaleava spent the past two seasons with the Tennessee Volunteers. However, after a falloff due to his NIL demands, he entered the transfer portal and is on the hunt for a new team.

Per the latest reports from Wednesday, the Bruins are interested in acquiring the quarterback's services. However, they are not even close to paying him the NIL amount he demanded from the Tennessee Volunteers.

According to reporter Sheena Quick, the Bruins offered Nico Iamaleava an NIL deal, which was less than $2 million.

Per source, new UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava's NIL deal is under $2 million," Quick tweeted on X.

According to ESPN, the UCLA Bruins are not looking to give in to Iamaleava's monetary demands. A source from the program talked about how the team is okay with waiting patiently for the quarterback's decision without making any changes from their end.

"We'll see if it gets worked out," the source said. "He's extremely talented with starting experience against elite competition. That's sort of where we are right now."

Nico Iamaleava decided to sit out of practice ahead of their annual spring game. It was then reported that the quarterback demanded an NIL deal where the Tennessee Volunteers paid him $4 million a season. He already had a deal that paid him $2.4 million a season. Had he spent his entire collegiate campaign with the Vols, Iamaleava would have had the opportunity to make around $10 million in total.

The redshirt freshman quarterback entered the transfer portal on Wednesday and has a do-not-contact tag. Last season, he helped the Vols to a 10-3 campaign while recording a total of 2,616 yards and 19 TDs passing.

---

Pete Thamel gives Nico Iamaleava a reality check amid NIL demands

College football insider Pete Thamel made an appearance on 'The Pat McAfee Show' on Wednesday. He talked about the quarterback's situation and gave him a reality check about the way things work at the collegiate level.

According to Thamel, there is a low possibility of any program giving in to Imalaeva's demands. He stated that the quarterback is going to be paid much less than what he's expecting and what he made during his stint with the Vols.

"Let's start with his market...This is what I have distilled from talking to sources on all sides. What is certain about Nico's market is that he will not get what he's asking, and he will not get the $4 million-ish that was desired from Tennessee, which would be top of the market in this college football 2025 season. That's not going to happen."

"What's expected is he is going to get less than what he was making, which was somewhere in the low-to-mid $2 million range as part of his initial, then-historic deal that got him to Tennessee."

Pete Thamel believes that despite his declining market, Nico Iamaleava will be picked up by a team in the portal. Apart from the UCLA Bruins, Notre Dame, USC, Tulane, and a few others have been linked with the quarterback. However, none of them have come forward to showcase an official interest in his acquisition.