Analyst points out massive irony in Nico Iamaleava’s transfer situation

Insider Pete Nakos broke huge news around Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava on April 10th. He reported that Iamaleava was negotiating with the Volunteers for a new contract and could enter the transfer portal. Iamaleava's father quickly rejected these claims on X and called out Nakos for making a false report.

However, Nakos was quickly proved right because two days later, he reported that Iamaleava skipped Friday's practice and was entering the transfer portal.

On Friday, Nakos appeared on "Crain & Company" to speak about the Nico Iamaleava situation. Early in the show, host Jake Crain spoke about how it is ironic that the Iamaleava camp called out Nakos for bad reporting, but now it appears that Iamaleava is going to lose money while Nakos is getting a raise at On3.

"Nico asked for $4.5 million, whatever the number was from Tennessee," Crain said (starts at 7:25). "He ends up needing to leave Tennessee and the number I've seen if he does go to UCLA is somewhere around $1.5 million which is going to be almost a million less than what he was making at Tennessee. So, it looks like he's going to lose money with what happened.

"Yet the person that he called out or his father and camp called out (Pete Nakos), just got a raise at On3. So, Pete Nakos is gonna make more money, Nico is gonna make less money. What a wild, ironic situation. I'll you what Pete, we've known you awhile. You deserve it bro because that's a big scoop that actually ended up coming to fruition. You knew what was happening within Nico's camp."

UCLA reportedly unwilling to pay $4 million Nico Iamaleava requested from Tennessee

Nico Iamaleava reportedly wanted $4 million to play for Tennessee this season, according to ESPN. The Volunteers were unwilling to pay him that money, and as a result, he decided to enter the transfer portal. Since then, the UCLA Bruins have emerged as the top contender to land the star QB.

However, according to ESPN, UCLA's offer to Iamaleava is nowhere close to $4 million. Now, Jake Crain is saying that he has heard reports that Iamaleava could make even less than the $2.4 million he was set to make this season at Tennessee.

The problem for Iamaleava is that he does not have much leverage in the spring portal. Not many teams need starting QBs at this stage of the offseason, and as a result, UCLA likely does not need to pay a huge sum to acquire him.