The NCAA transfer portal and the allowance of players to be paid for their name, image, and likeness (NIL) are undoubtedly the biggest driving forces behind the changes in college football.

The era of players waiting their turn at one school to play, or certain programs building dynasties off of being the best at paying players under the table, is no more. Now, programs that can get donors to scrounge together the most cash are in prime position to contend, which has led to new-age powerhouses like Indiana, Texas Tech and Ole Miss emerging.

With the NCAA transfer portal opening on Jan. 2, there have already been over 4,000 entries, but not every player will be getting the big bucks. The caliber at the top of the portal is as high as we have ever seen it, and some of college football’s most valuable players have found, or are in the process of looking for a new landing spot.

That said, let’s take a look at the players in the NCAA transfer portal with some of the highest NIL valuations, according to On3.

Byrum Brown (Auburn via USF)

To the surprise of no one, Byrum Brown followed his head coach, Alex Golesh, to Auburn. The 6-foot-3 dual-threat quarterback threw for 3,158 yards with 28 touchdowns, while also rushing for 1,008 yards and 14 more scores en route to leading the Bulls to a 9-3 regular season record.

NIL Valuation: $1.6 million

Beau Pribula (Missouri), Cam Coleman (Auburn), Cutter Boley (ASU via Kentucky)

The Missouri Tigers lost their star quarterback, who led them to a 6-1 start to the season, in what was really his first chance to start. Unfortunately an injury derailed his season and their momentum, but Pribula is still viewed as a high-end starter in college football.

As for Cam Coleman, the now-former Auburn wide receiver is due for a massive payday. Some reports have revealed he could earn as much as $2 million. He is ranked as the No. 1 overall player in the transfer portal, and very well could move up this list.

A Kentucky native, Boley impressed as the starting quarterback for the Kentucky Wildcats this season. He replaced Zach Calzada as the starter after two games, throwing for 2,160 yards with 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, while completing 65.8% of his passes. While there was obvious room for improvement, he steps into an Arizona State situation where he will be throwing to Colorado wide receiver transfer Omarion Miller and playing for one of the best offensive minds in the country, Kenny Dillingham.

NIL Valuation: $1.8

Dylan Raiola (Nebraska), DJ Lagway (Florida), Josh Hoover (Indiana via TCU)

Dylan Raiola was tabbed as the quarterback who would bring Nebraska back to prominence, but instead, his season was ended early due to an injury, and the writing was on the wall that he was leaving. Matt Rhule fired his uncle from the coaching staff, and his younger brother, who is a 2026 quarterback recruit, backed off his pledge. Raiola may not be an elite-tier quarterback, but he has a big arm and some creativity that could make him an intriguing add.

Similar to Raiola, who was also a five-star with plenty of hype, injuries plagued DJ Lagway at Florida. In his first full year as the starter, Lagway threw for 2,264 yards with 16 touchdowns and a brutal 14 picks. His spring camp saw him throwing at a limited capacity, and he also dealt with various other knicks along the way.

Josh Hoover will enter the 2026 season as college football’s leading returning passer, accumulating 9,629 yards at TCU. He will look to keep the hype train going at Indiana, as he is set to replace projected No. 1 overall pick, Fernando Mendoza.

NIL Valuation: $2 million

Drew Mestemaker (OK State via UNT)

If you love an underdog story, you’ll love Drew Mestemaker’s journey. He went from not starting a varsity game at quarterback in high school to leading college football in passing yards with 4,379. While he likely could have gone to any school he wanted, he decided to follow North Texas coach Eric Morris to Oklahoma State.

NIL Valuation: $2.3 million

Sam Leavitt (Arizona State)

The biggest domino that has yet to fall in the transfer portal is Leavitt, who is expected to command a massive payday in the portal. His numbers weren’t as eye-popping as 2024 when he led the Sun Devils to the College Football Playoff, but his dual-threat ability and elite ceiling has some of the biggest programs in the country knocking on his door.

NIL Valuation: $3.1 million

Brendan Sorsby (Texas Tech via Cincinnati)

Brendan Sorsby changed the trajectory of his career with the season he had in 2025. The former Indiana quarterback threw for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns, while throwing just five picks. He also added nine more touchdowns on the ground, and is an early contender for the top spot in next year’s draft. Going to Texas Tech not only put him on a title contender, but earned him what reports are calling a $5 million payday.

NIL Valuation $3.3 million

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Maxwell Football Club executive director Mark Wolpert announced that West Virginia University football signee Matt Sieg was named the 2025 National High School Player of the Year by the Maxwell Football Club, marking the 19^th year that this honor will be presented at the Club’s National Awards.

Sieg is the first WVU signee to earn the Maxwell Football Club’s High School Player of the Year Award and it marks the first time a Mountaineer football recruit won a national high school player of the year award since Robert

Alexander was named Parade Magazine Back of the Year in 1976.

Sieg also was named a High School All-American by the Maxwell Football Club. He was a three-time Pennsylvania Football Writers’ Class 1A All-State First Team honoree, the all-time leading rusher in Fort Cherry High School

history and the WPIAL 1A Player of the Year.

Sieg authored one of the most historic careers in WPIAL history, finishing with a 49–7 record, two WPIAL championships (2023, 2024) and league records in total offense (12,592 yards) and touchdowns (139). A generational dual-threat, he became just the second player in WPIAL history to surpass 4,000 rushing and 4,000 passing yards in a career, while also setting league marks as the first player to reach 5,000 rushing yards and 3,000 passing yards and to rush and pass for 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons.

 

As a senior, he totaled 2,259 all-purpose yards and 30 touchdowns while adding 45 tackles and four interceptions on defense, leading Fort Cherry to a 12–1 record and a WPIAL 1A semifinal appearance. The four-time Black Hills Conference Offensive MVP ranks No. 2 in WPIAL career rushing (7,941 yards) and stands as Fort Cherry’s all-time leading rusher and passer, earning consensus four-star status and national rankings from ESPN, 247Sports\ and Rivals.

 

The formal presentation of the National High School Player of the Year Award will be held on Saturday, March 14, 2026, at the Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. The Maxwell Football Club will also be presenting its other national awards from college through the professional ranks at the event.

The website Sports Casting recently published data that pointed to Texas as the program with the nation’s biggest purse strings related to name, image, and likeness incentives for this year’s transfer portal, ahead of in-state juggernauts such as Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and others. Texas has $23 million in NIL funding, in fact, according to a graph Sports Casting published earlier today.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT THE LONGHORNS

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NEWS ACROSS LONGHORN NATION AND BEYOND

Indiana posted a major day in the early January transfer portal window, adding multiple experienced transfers on Sunday, including TCU quarterback Josh Hoover, Michigan State wide receiver Nick Marsh, and Boston College running back Turbo (Hanovii) Richard.

Hoover is a redshirt junior with a high-volume TCU resume, throwing for 9,629 career yards and 71 touchdowns with a 65.2% completion rate.

He set the Horned Frogs’ single-season passing record in 2024 with 3,949 yards (27 TDs, 11 INTs) and followed it up with another productive campaign in 2025, totaling 3,472 yards with 29 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Hoover is expected to enroll in January and is the projected heir apparent if Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza departs for the NFL.

Marsh is a 6-foot-3 receiver who led Michigan State in receptions and receiving yards in consecutive seasons, posting 41 catches for 649 yards and three touchdowns in 2024, followed by 59 receptions for 662 yards and six scores in 2025.

Richard entered the portal after a breakout 2025 season, rushing for 749 yards and nine touchdowns on 145 carries (5.2 yards per carry) across 11 games, while also contributing in the passing game with 30 catches for 213 yards and two receiving touchdowns.

Safeties Preston Zachman (Wisconsin) and Jiquan Sanks (Cincinnati), edge prospects like Tobi Osunsanmi (Kansas State) and Joshua Burnham (Notre Dame), and Chiddi Obiazor (Kansas State) have all reportedly transferred to Indiana as well.

On Sunday, Josh Pate described Indiana’s portal approach as “swinging wildly” and landing most of those swings, a shorthand for the Hoosiers’ aggressive, high-volume pursuit of established starters during the opening days of the transfer window.

“Indiana is swinging wildly, and it will probably shock approximately none of you to learn that they are landing every punch that they swing with,” Pate said.

“Josh Hoover, TCU quarterback, that’s who Curt Cignetti has circled, and so he is next in line to be a future Heisman finalist in Indiana… Nick Marsh, who I was really high on this past year, and then Michigan State was terrible, he’s headed to Indiana too… So Indiana is making some big moves here.”

Indiana completed a historic run in 2025, winning the Big Ten and advancing through the College Football Playoff, including a 38–3 win over No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl (CFP quarterfinal) to enter the CFP semifinals as the No. 1 seed (14–0 at that point).

Head coach Curt Cignetti’s roster rebuild has relied heavily on the portal since his arrival, bringing in high-impact portal QBs such as Kurtis Rourke (Ohio) and then Fernando Mendoza (Cal), both of whom started and helped accelerate the program’s turnaround.

By landing established contributors, especially a high-volume quarterback and proven skill-position players, Indiana changes the odds for 2026 by signaling to recruits and opponents that the program is built to last rather than flash.

Read More at College Football HQ

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• College Football Playoff team loses 23 players to transfer portal

The NCAA’s two-week January portal window (Jan. 2–16) opened with heavy quarterback movement, highlighted by North Texas standout Drew Mestemaker committing to Oklahoma State and top portal name Brendan Sorsby landing at Texas Tech.

Meanwhile, Sam Leavitt remains uncommitted while visiting multiple Power-5 programs, and both Byrum Brown and DJ Lagway have entered the portal and are in the process of scheduling visits.

Former Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola has also entered the transfer portal and is reportedly a priority target for several Power-5 programs.

On Friday, January 2, CBS Sports analysts Cooper Petagna and Chris Hummer flagged Raiola as a quarterback who becomes materially more effective when surrounded by a strong supporting cast, pointing to two specific college football programs as logical fits.

“If you put him in an environment like Miami or an environment like Oregon where you surround him with the type of playmakers and the type of offensive line and the type of running game that those programs provide, then Dylan Raiola becomes a lot more of a net positive, rather than being the guy,” said Petagna.

Raiola started Nebraska’s first nine games in 2025 before suffering a broken right fibula against USC on November 1, an injury that ended his season.

At the time, he had completed 181 of 250 passes (72.4%) for 2,000 yards, 18 touchdowns and six interceptions, posting a 158.6 passer rating while ranking among the national leaders in completion percentage.

A consensus five-star recruit from Buford, Georgia, Raiola started as a true freshman in 2024, completing 275 of 410 passes (67.1%) for 2,819 yards, 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions across 13 games.

He is also one of the more marketable athletes in college football, with On3’s public player profile listing an estimated NIL valuation of $2 million, driven by partnerships with adidas, Campus Ink, EA Sports and Panini America.

Each is currently a College Football Playoff (CFP) team with a deep receiving corps, strong offensive lines and reliable running games that would help mask pocket limitations and accelerate his development.

Oregon’s fast-paced, high-efficiency offense and established receiver pipeline would amplify his strengths, while Miami’s pro-style balance, elite NIL market and recent success developing transfer quarterbacks provide immediate resources and exposure.

Together, both programs offer elite coaching, medical and strength staffs, playoff-level competition and consistent NFL scouting attention, a combination that maximizes Raiola’s long-term upside while boosting national title aspirations.

Read More at College Football HQ

• No. 1 transfer portal QB earns $5 million NIL deal after interest from major college football programs

• College football’s leading rusher linked to two college football programs in transfer portal

• College football programs loses 28 players to transfer portal

• College Football Playoff team loses 23 players to transfer portal

Brendan Sorsby landed a record NIL deal with Texas Tech, so Boardroom caught up with his agent to learn about the transfer portal process, why he chose college over the NFL, and more.

Brendan Sorsby has reset the NIL market.

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The former University of Cincinnati quarterback and ESPN’s top-ranked player in this year’s college football transfer portal signed an NIL contract with Texas Tech for his final year of eligibility worth close to $6 million, his agent Ron Slavin of Lift Sports Management told Boardroom. It’s believed to be the largest ever NIL deal in college football; here’s how the historic deal went down.

After Cincinnati finished its regular season after Thanksgiving, Sorsby signaled to his representatives that he wanted a change of scenery, whether that was the transfer portal or the NFL, Slavin said. He then submitted a request to the NFL’s College Advisory Committee, which evaluates and advises underclassmen of their draft prospects and where they realistically might be selected. While Sorsby got a graded projection of anywhere between the first and third rounds of the 2026 draft, that didn’t sway him from wanting to play a final year of college football and submit his name into the NCAA transfer portal.

“He wants to become a better quarterback, and he wants to be the first pick in the ’27 draft,” Slavin told Boardroom. “Brendan wanted to play college football, compete for a national championship, and continue to develop.”

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Sorsby looked at inexperienced quarterbacks drafted in the first round and sent out to play by their teams right away, and wanted more reps to reduce the potential of becoming a draft bust because he was thrown in there before he was ready.

“The NFL doesn’t draft quarterbacks in the first round anymore and let him sit for three years like Aaron Rodgers was able to,” Slavin said. “Brendan wants to know that he’s got enough reps and played enough games like the Bo Nixes of the world, who had 60 college games. That’s the model now, not guys who have had one good season of 12 starts. They seem to fail a lot more often.”

Players can announce they’re going into the transfer portal in December, but the official two-week portal doesn’t open until Jan. 2. And while players can’t contact teams until then, agents and representatives can begin identifying schools in need of a player, in this case, an experienced starting QB like Sorsby. LSU, Miami, and Texas Tech emerged as the three top contenders, and Sorsby visited each school over the weekend.

“All had very solid offers, and they were pretty equal across the board,” Slavin said. “I know people like to say ‘oh, Texas Tech outspends,’ but there wasn’t any difference in the money between Miami, LSU, or Texas Tech.”

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Sorsby was impressed by Miami head coach Mario Cristobal and the executive director Dennis Smith. As he controversially moved over from Ole Miss to LSU, Slavin said Lane Kiffin was “all in” on bringing Sorsby to Baton Rouge. The LSU coaches did the best job among the three in terms of putting in the time and preparation on trying to bring in what it hoped would be its next starting quarterback. But as a whole, Texas Tech barely edged both of them out.

Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire was able to sell Sorsby on facilities that Slavin said blew him away, a strong offensive line and skill position players, and the Red Raiders’ ability to develop him as a quarterback. It also helped that the Dallas native could play football one last year in his home state.

“We did pros and cons with all of them, and it was pretty much a coin flip,” Slavin said. “In the end, Brennan just went with his gut. It was a really cool process to go through with all of them because they all do it the right way.”

Just as important as the destination was the structure of the deal itself. Sorsby’s camp required that all NIL compensation be fully guaranteed and paid by next Jan. 1, a safeguard amid growing concerns about collectives delaying or withholding funds for reasons such as missed bowl appearances. The agreement — alongside a separate NIL deal for quarterback Josh Hoover, who is transferring from TCU to Indiana — represents a significant milestone for Lift Sports Management. After building a strong NBA roster that includes Paolo Banchero, Jabari Smith Jr., and PJ Washington, Lift expanded into football last summer by hiring Slavin and Jared Fox, adding to an NFL client base that already features David Montgomery and Byron Murphy.

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“This deal is a huge step for the agency and also for Brendan individually,” Donnie McGrath, Lift’s CEO, told Boardroom. “It helps put Lift Football on the map, and it shows that these guys are going to make an impact on the industry.”

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