Last season, we saw what happens when a college football player tries to make themselves bigger than the NFL. The slide of former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders in the 2025 NFL draft turned sane men into lunatics as pundits pounded the table at the travesty Sanders endured. The reality of the situation was that Sanders slid to the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round as much for what he did off the field as anything that happened on the field.
This season, new UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava is in a position to watch what Sanders went through and decide which path he wants to take. He can double down and bet on himself and continue the behavior that got him where he is, or he can focus on football and put aside the greed and hubris that cost him millions already and be the best he can for his new school and his future.
To summarize how Iamaleava got to this point, we have to go back to 2024. He was the starting quarterback of the Volunteers and in 13 starts led the team to a 10-3 record. His stats weren’t gaudy but he found ways to win games. Iamaleava also earned $1.8 million in NIL earnings. After the season, Iamaleava and his father decided to stage a holdout with Tennessee in hopes of getting a bump to $2.4 million. Thankfully, the Volunteers didn’t cave and instead told him he could go.
Iamaleava turned his attention to UCLA and was hoping to get $2.4 million to play for the Bruins in 2025. But make no mistake, after the debacle he and his dad pulled with Tennessee, teams were not knocking down his door to invite more chaos. After hoping to get $2.4 million from Tennessee, Iamaleava ended up settling for just $1 with UCLA.
If you don’t think this matters to NFL teams, you haven’t been paying attention. Iamaleava is a very good football player, just like Sanders. But like Sanders, he is not good enough for a team to invite trouble and spend a high draft pick on it. UCLA went 5-7 in 2024 and the best thing Iamaleava can do is win games, perform well and keep his mouth shut about money. We won’t be shocked no matter which direction Iamaleava takes. But with the talent coming up in the 2026 NFL draft at quarterback, he could easily end up sliding if he makes himself too risky to use an early pick on.