The drama began nearly two weeks ago when Iamaleava was reported to have been looking to restructure his NIL deal with Tennessee’s collective, seeking a number in the $4 million per year range. Iamaleava had been signed to a four-year, $8 million contract.

Iamaleava entered the transfer portal and ended up with UCLA, where ESPN sources say he'll be making less in NIL money than what he was at Tennessee. On the other side of things, new UCLA quarterback Joey Aguilar hit the portal when Iamaleava signed because he was expecting to be the new starting quarterback.

Nico Iamaleava's dad and adviser Corell Landers denied that negotiations were going down after reports started to surface. Sources close to Iamaleava claim that it wasn't true. It