Aftter helping propel Arizona State to its first College Football Playoff run in 2024, quarterback Sam Leavitt is officially preparing to test the transfer market.

Multiple outlets report Leavitt intends to enter the portal when the window opens in January, and early lists of suitors already include Oregon, Indiana, LSU, and Miami. 

Leavitt’s 2025 season was cut short by a persistent foot injury that required surgery and ended his year after seven appearances.

Despite limited time, he finished the campaign with 1,628 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions, and leaves Tempe with a two-year body of work that includes a 2024 breakout season (2,885 passing yards, 443 rushing yards, 29 total TDs).

ASU closed 2025 at 8–4 under coach Kenny Dillingham, going 6-3 in Big 12 play.

On Wednesday, Mike Golic Jr. weighed in on potential transfer portal destinations, explicitly linking Leavitt to Miami as a natural schematic fit.

“Sam Leavitt, to me, would be a fascinating fit at the University of Miami. We reckon Carson Beck is going to be out after this playoff run, and when I look at Sam Leavitt’s game, I think about the Miami offense they ran with Cam Ward, an offense predicated on the quarterback’s ability to drop back, create, and make plays with both his arm and his legs. That feels like a very easy comparison.”

The Hurricanes went 10-2 this season and enter the postseason with a quarterback (Beck) who posted 3,072 passing yards and 25 passing touchdowns with a 74.7% completion rate.

However, despite Beck’s productive year as the starter and Miami’s CFP berth, the senior quarterback is widely expected to move on after the season, opening a potential vacancy at one of college football’s biggest brands.

Leavitt combines a CFP start, redshirt-sophomore eligibility, mobility, and a nationally ranked NIL valuation (estimated at $2.1 million), positioning him as one of the portal’s most attractive quarterbacks.

Read More at College Football HQ

• $2.1 million QB ranked as top quarterback in college football transfer portal

• $87 million college football coach predicted to accept Michigan head coaching job

• Top transfer portal QB reportedly receives ‘multiple offers’ over $4 million

• Kirby Smart sends strong message on Nick Saban before College Football Playoff

Although the transfer portal doesn’t open until Jan. 2, the quarterback market is starting to take shape. Multiple high-profile signal-callers announced their plans to hit the portal, and ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported how much the top QBs could make.

Thamel reported the “tip-top” of the quarterback market could reach $5 million. For comparison, Duke quarterback Darian Mensah was one of the highest-paid players in the country this past season at $4 million, On3’s Pete Nakos previously reported.

SUBSCRIBE to the On3 NIL and Sports Business Newsletter

Multiple big-name schools are expected to be looking for a quarterback in the portal this year, and names such as Brendan Sorsby, Dylan Raiola and Josh Hoover are already front-and-center. As a result, the market could surge, Thamel said.

“This market looks robust already, guys. … I made some calls today. Sources told me the tip-top of this quarterback market, financially, could reach $5 million for one season,” Thamel said Friday on ESPN College GameDay. “Look, it’s supply and demand. You have all those guys. Sorsby’s been linked early to Texas Tech. Dylan Raiola, there’s some smoke to Louisville, although maybe a playoff team jumps in late there. There’s been early links between Indiana and Hoover, assuming that [Fernando] Mendoza goes pro.

“Look, this is what’s going to drive the market. Oregon may lose Dante Moore, Miami’ll be in the quarterback market, so will LSU. So when you really take a look at what’s going to drive this quarterback market, it’s going to be the most expensive in the history of college football.”

Quarterback remains one of the biggest positions in the transfer portal, especially considering the recent success. Seven of the last nine Heisman Trophy winners have been transfers, including Mendoza this year. DeVonta Smith and Bryce Young are the only ones to stay with their own program at Alabama and win the award during that time.

Last year’s transfer quarterbacks were also among the highest-paid players in college football, On3 previously reported. Mensah’s $4 million payday was part of a two-year, $8 million deal at Duke. At Miami, Carson Beck inked a deal worth between $3 and $3.2 million, but up to $6 million with incentives.

The NCAA transfer portal window officially opens Jan. 2, meaning that’s when players’ names will start to appear. It will stay open for two weeks, closing Jan. 16.

The perception of bowl games and their significance to college football programs and players has undergone a rapid shift over the last decade.

In the current age of the sport, teams are turning down postseason bids while the transfer portal is filling up before most bowl games even kick off.

That’s just the reality of the situation. Normally, it’s the needy who are hit the hardest as G6 schools and poorly constructed FBS programs have their rosters raided.

Just take a look at what’s happening at UTSA.

UTSA’s Jeff Traylor: ‘I Hate What’s Going On In College Football’

Since transitioning to the FBS over a decade ago, UTSA has established itself in the Conference USA and the American Conference.

Head coach Jeff Traylor has led the program to six consecutive bowl games. That includes an up-and-down campaign in 2025, when the Roadrunners started 0-2 and won two of their final three games to finish 6-6.

UTSA is a week away from taking on FIU in the First Responder Bowl on December 26.

Going into the matchup, the Roadrunners could be without as many as 20 players. Many of those losses are due to the portal.

“We’ll be a shell of ourselves, but whoever we got out there, we’re going to go out there and play the best we can,” Traylor said, according to KENS 5’s Vinnie Vinzetta. “It’s just the numbers are so big with all the tampering. All the agents, it’s coaches too, it’s all of them. Our kids are being promised such incredible numbers, they’re getting lured into the portal.

“I just hope all the things those coaches and agents are promising they’re going to do for my kids. I hate it because I really want to coach them in a bowl game, but they’re getting leveraged out of it,” Traylor continued. “Their agents are telling them, they’ve got to not play in the bowl, they’ll get this number, they don’t play in the bowl [they’ll get this number].”

“I hate what’s going on in college football. I just think the numbers have gotten so large. You’re talking about teams that have $26 million to $40 million, and the number’s just too big, and who knows if they’re being told the truth? It’s sad, it really is sad,” Traylor added. “I never thought we’d be punished for making a bowl game by being leveraged, that if you don’t give them a certain number, they’re not going to play in a bowl.

Traylor is focused on the players still with the team, but he couldn’t help but recognize that college football looks a lot different than it did in his first season on the job.

“I’m going to celebrate the kids we have left, whoever that is, we’re going to go out there and play our tails off, and I’m very grateful for them,” Traylor said. “Again, I hate we’re talking about the 10 to 15 that probably are not going to play in the game, or 20, whatever that number ends up being. We should be talking about the 90 to 85 that are going to play with their teammates.”

“It’s like I just woke in another world as compared to where we were six years ago,” Traylor added.

Is there a way to combat what’s going on? Not really. There have been calls for coaches to report instances of tampering.

Most of the time, it’s hard for the people in charge to get the specifics of whose saying what.

“There’s no such thing as tampering. Coaches talk to players, agents talk to players,” Traylor said. “Oh, then turn them in, coach. You think those players are going to give me the coach that’s actually talking to them? Why? It’s driving the price up. The more they get driven up, the price goes up higher and higher.

“As long as there’s people gonna pay it, who’s going to stop it? What’s going to stop this? What’s going to stop it? Only the freedom of process is going to stop because when there’s no money left, what are we going to all do?”

As of December 19, four players who started multiple games for UTSA have announced plans to enter the transfer portal, including cornerbacks Davin Martin and KK Meier, defensive end Kenny Ozowalu, and defensive tackle Chidera Otutu.

More attrition is possible in the next seven days.

Read more on College Football HQ

• $45 million college football head coach reportedly offers Lane Kiffin unexpected role

• Paul Finebaum believes one SEC school is sticking by an ‘average’ head coach

• SEC football coach predicts major change after missing College Football Playoff

• Predicting landing spots for the Top 5 college football transfers (Dec. 17)

The Pinstripe Bowl was meant to serve as a bridge year moment for Clemson, a chance to reset expectations and evaluate younger talent with an eye toward 2026.

Instead, Dabo Swinney’s Monday media session revealed that 26 scholarship players won’t be available for the Tigers’ Dec. 27 Pinstripe Bowl against Penn State.

That tally, largely injuries, a cluster of transfer departures and a handful of early NFL opt-outs, compounds a season that started with top-five expectations and ended 7-5. 

Swinney said 17 absences are injury-related, five players opted to transfer, and four declared for the NFL Draft; among those not playing are defensive stalwarts such as linebacker Wade Woodaz, defensive end T.J. Parker, and cornerback Avieon Terrell.

Offensively, Clemson still has quarterback Cade Klubnik, who threw for 2,750 yards and 16 touchdowns this season, but the Tigers will be without several key offensive linemen and skill-position contributors, including Antonio Williams and Bryant Wesco Jr., the team’s second- and third-leading receivers.

The 2025 campaign itself was already a disappointment by Clemson standards. 

A series of close losses to LSU, Georgia Tech, and Duke left Clemson 7–5 and out of playoff contention despite opening the season ranked No. 4 in the preseason AP Top 25.

Those results eliminated any margin for error, and the loss of more than two dozen scholarship players now makes the bowl a significant test of depth.

Penn State enters at 6–6 amid a coaching transition, with roster questions of its own but fewer high-profile opt-outs reported so far.

Penn State will be coached by interim Terry Smith after James Franklin was fired midseason and later took the Virginia Tech job.

For Clemson, the situation has immediate implications for its bowl competitiveness and longer-term questions about roster depth, retention, and development.

The Pinstripe Bowl will be played at Yankee Stadium on Dec. 27 (Noon ET, ABC).

Read More at College Football HQ

• $2.1 million QB ranked as top quarterback in college football transfer portal

• $87 million college football coach predicted to accept Michigan head coaching job

• Top transfer portal QB reportedly receives ‘multiple offers’ over $4 million

• Kirby Smart sends strong message on Nick Saban before College Football Playoff

There are plenty of examples of a star in pro sports taking less money in order to help the overall roster. But it isn’t something that’s hit college football yet … until now, thanks to Arch Manning. Manning has asked to take a reduced portion of the Longhorns’ direct payout pool.

Manning’s aim at taking less NIL funds is to help improve the roster around him. Just like Patrick Mahomes, who regularly gives up millions to help the Kansas City Chief’s roster. Tom Brady did it with New England. Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Jalen Brunson, Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger have all helped the rosters around them by taking less.

Advertisement

In the pros, there are salary caps to negotiate. While college has no salary cap (yet), there is a finite amount in the NIL house pool. Texas can only spend what it has available. And while that pool is one of the biggest in the nation, Texas still follows a budget.

No doubt, Manning will be hoping the Texas coaching staff uses some of the freed up football revenue sharing funds on the offensive line. The line struggled in front of Manning all season and certainly inhibited his development early in the season.

Two offensive linemen are gone after the Citrus Bowl and Texas might lose a third. Left tackle Trevor Goosby was named first-team All-SEC is now contemplating going pro. Running back Jadan Baugh from Florida is also on Texas’ radar. The talented RB won’t be cheap.

Of course, it’s not like Manning will starve. The redshirt sophomore has one of the highest NIL valuations in nation. Manning has NIL deals with Red Bull, Panani, Uber and Warby Parker. Manning made north of $3.5 million in NIL deals in 2025, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Advertisement

With a big name that attracts major brands, Manning doesn’t need his big deals supplemented. But most college athletes are paid by the common pool of funds. Manning frees up some of that money for transfers.

This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Manning Pay Cut: Texas QB asks for less NIL money to help boost roster