Michigan struck gold in the transfer portal last offseason, grabbing Justice Haynes from Alabama. After being part of a committee with the Crimson Tide, Haynes was Michigan’s starting running back for much of the 2025 season and proved to be one of the more impactful portal additions in the country, going for 857 yards and 10 touchdowns on just 121 carries.

Thanks to his breakout in the maize and blue, Haynes found himself shooting up draft boards by mid-season as someone who could potentially be a Day 2 or early Day 3 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. However, a foot injury derailed his season and kept him sidelined for Michigan’s final four games.

Despite the injury, a jump to the NFL is still in the cards for Haynes. However, it sounds like the Wolverines will be working to retain him for his senior season, as head coach Sherrone Moore mentioned on Monday that discussions are still ongoing to bring Haynes back.

“That’ll be a conversation we’re still having,” Moore said of a possible return for Haynes.

As is customary in the world of college football in 2025, discussions to bring Haynes back will likely focus on what can be done from an NIL standpoint, as any return to school would mean putting off money in the form of an NFL contract for another year. This time of year is undoubtedly when coaches, general managers, collectives, and independent donors are the busiest on the NIL front, since National Signing Day and the transfer portal window are within about a month of each other – so Michigan must really be high on Haynes’ potential impact next year if it’s willing to allocate assets to him even with Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter in tow already.

It’d be a big win for the program to bring back a proven star like Haynes, but it’ll need to do its part in keeping underclassmen in the fold as well, as other schools would surely love to poach some of Michigan’s talent in the transfer portal. As such, Moore mentioned the importance of discussing NIL with players and having a plan in place simply to retain talent.

“Those are just ongoing conversations that you have to have kids in this state of college football,” Moore said of NIL discussions to retain players. “You can’t ignore (discussions) – if you ignore it, then all of a sudden you lose the whole team and we can’t have that. Retainment is a huge piece of what we have to do.”

Ultimately, though, Moore understands that it will take more than just money to keep players from looking around, and noted the importance of making sure the staff is maintaining “old school relationships” while continuing to express all that Michigan has to offer players.

“We keep a lot of guys here because they love (Michigan),” Moore would add.

The transfer portal window is open from January 2 to January 16, while players like Haynes have until about mid-January to decide if they’ll be declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft.