North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker, the passing yardage leader in the FBS in 2025, is expected to enter the transfer portal, two school sources confirmed to The Athletic.

Mestemaker hasn’t made a final decision on his future and likely won’t until after North Texas’ bowl game, one source said. But both sources considered it likely that Mestemaker will enter the portal.

Mestemaker, a former walk-on, emerged as one of the top quarterbacks in the country and will be heavily courted by Power 4 conference programs in the portal. He’s expected to attract multi-million dollar offers after throwing for 4,129 yards and 31 touchdowns while leading the Mean Green to an 11-2 season and an appearance in the American Conference championship game.

The transfer portal officially opens on Jan. 2 for FBS players. Mestemaker is expected to play in the New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 27, when the Mean Green take on San Diego State.

Mestemaker has made an impressive rise after not being a full-time starter at his high school. Before this season, Mestemaker’s last full-time starting quarterback job was as a high school freshman. As a senior at Vandegrift High in Austin, Texas, Mestemaker backed up Deuce Adams, who is now a redshirt freshman at Louisville.

Last year at North Texas, Mestemaker backed up Chandler Morris — who transferred to Virginia after the season — but had a breakout performance in the 2024 First Responder Bowl, throwing for 393 yards in his first college start. He beat out Miami transfer Reese Poffenbarger for the starting job this year and later set an American Conference record with 608 passing yards in a 54-20 win over Charlotte in October. He was named the American’s Offensive Player of the Year and was a first-team all-conference selection. Mestemaker also recently won the Burlsworth Award, given to the most outstanding player in the country who began his career as a walk-on.

Can’t wait to see what Drew Mestemaker can do at a P4 school next year 🔥😤
pic.twitter.com/S10f4bpRBc

— SleeperCFB (@SleeperCFB) December 16, 2025

What will the transfer market look like for Mestemaker?

Because of Mestemaker’s arm talent and multiple years of eligibility remaining, he’ll be one of the most coveted prospects in the portal.

There has been much speculation that Mestemaker, a redshirt freshman, could follow his former coach, Eric Morris, to Oklahoma State. Morris, who spent the last three years at North Texas and offered Mestemaker his roster spot there, accepted the Cowboys’ job last month. Morris has also brought several staff members with him from North Texas, including his general manager (Raj Murti), chief of staff (Rolando Surita) and defensive coordinator (Skyler Cassity).

It wouldn’t be a surprise if Mestemaker followed, especially given his relationship with Morris and the coach’s extensive history of recruiting and developing top-tier quarterbacks. Morris also said earlier this month that he will call plays at Oklahoma State, which he did at North Texas, so if Mestemaker were to follow, he’d continue working with the same play caller that he thrived with in 2025.

But Mestemaker following Morris isn’t a foregone conclusion. He has long been atop Power 4 teams’ quarterback wish lists and will be pursued by quarterback-needy teams. An agent told The Athletic in October that one SEC team had Mestemaker as the No. 1 target on its portal board at that time. Mestemaker’s talent could draw some aggressive offers from deep-pocketed teams.

In October, when Morris was still with the Mean Green, Murti and NIL general manager Steve Keasler told The Athletic that their goal was to raise enough money to make a seven-figure offer to Mestemaker after the season to try to retain him. A typical Power 4 starting quarterback in 2025 made around $1 million, though the market for top-end quarterbacks reached above $3 million. The going rate for quarterbacks could be even higher in the 2026 offseason. Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who on Monday announced his intentions to enter the portal, is believed to be fielding offers as high as $4 million annually.