If worried about the likelihood of athletes signing non-competes, why would they agree to buyouts that hurt?
“While the 15-day transfer portal window closed Friday, Jan. 16, NCAA rules allow for a brief administrative window. As long as a player notifies their school in writing before the deadline, the program has up to two business days to formally enter that player into the transfer portal, with an increased processing timeline in this case because of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday Monday.”
Retzlaff walked on at Tulane so he wasn’t even on scholarship, I don’t imagine many pull this move. Lucas was able to navigate his transfer with help from a lawyer, but he attempted to enter the portal, but Wisconsin blocked him from doing so. We might see a few try to pull similar moves, but I don’t think we see a second wave in the spring like in the past.
There will definitely still be some roster movement between now and the start of the season but it almost certainly won't be to the degree it was when there were 2 portal windows.
Likely the key point in the current college football NIL/Portal/Etc. universe. Right now, there does not seem to be any kind of solid hierarchical structure that can fully address the complications that are arising. It's pretty much a horizontal system with--using economic terms--barriers to entry into the market for some of the consumers in terms of procuring talent. That was probably true to a somewhat lesser extent pre-NIL/Portal as the helmet schools clearly had at least a perceived and likely a tangible advantage.
Walk on vs scholarship is kind of obsolete with the roster minutes being the new rules
It's been a long ride from "you can't give the players cream cheese for that bagel"....