CFB transfer portal tracker (2024)

The 2023-24 transfer portal cycle is on pace to be another record-setting one, with 2,100 scholarship college football players already in the portal at the FBS level. So far, nearly 1,400 have announced commitments as we enter the 14-day spring transfer window from April 16-30.

Which big names do you need to know ahead of the portal deadline? In an effort to help you keep track of who’s going where and which top transfers are still on the market, The Athletic ranks the best available players in the portal.

Transfers are ranked based on their experience, production, potential, interest they’re generating and feedback from coaches throughout the country. This is a fluid list that we’ll constantly update as players make decisions, so be sure to keep this one bookmarked.

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Arizona State quarterback Jaden Rashada has announced he's entering the transfer portal. Rashada, a top-100 recruit and the No. 7 ranked QB recruit in the class of 2023, played in three games and made two starts during his freshman season with the Sun Devils.

Rashada initially signed with Florida and agreed to a $13.85 million contract with a Gators collective but asked to be released from his letter of intent after the collective failed to make a payment and terminated the agreement.

Arizona State landed Michigan State transfer Sam Leavitt in the offseason and also has Trenton Bourguet returning.

Georgia is expected to be the frontrunner in this recruitment, a source told The Athletic, as the Bulldogs are seeking a backup to provide depth this year and compete with Gunner Stockton next year.

In an expected move on Wednesday, the NCAA Division I Council approved a change to transfer rules, which will grant immediate eligibility to all transfers as long as they meet academic eligibility requirements. So long are the days of sitting out a year and submitting eligibility waivers. Say “hello” to unlimited transfers.

The rule opens the floodgates for athletes to transfer more than once in their careers. This week, I dove into the topic of multi-time transfers and aimed to answer one question from the athletes who have gone through it: Who do they root for as alumni?

The overwhelming majority of players I spoke with said time spent at a school and/or where they got their degree were the most influential factors in their loyalty post-college. But still, a split feeling is present.

Said Alan Bowman (who transferred from Texas Tech to Michigan to Oklahoma State): “I don’t know how I’m going to raise my son. I really don’t know. The loyalty issue is a thing.”

What about all the excess gear? And friendships left behind? This was a fun one to report. Read it here.

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Last week, reports surfaced that Martinez planned on entering the portal, which he made official on Tuesday. His loss is a big blow for the Beavers — Martinez was a first-team All-Pac-12 rusher and formerly pledged his commitment to the Beavers amid roster turnover following coach Jonathan Smith’s departure to Michigan State.

Amid the initial rumblings, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that Martinez was set to make more than $400,000 in NIL deals to remain at Oregon State in 2024. Players are making money. We know this. But rarely do we see the actual dollar amount next to these deals.

Following the report, Martinez implied to the Oregonian that Oregon State’s collective, Dam Nation, did not live up to its promises. Kyle Bjornstad, co-founder of Dam Nation, said whatever commitments the collective made to Martinez were fulfilled, “1,000 percent.” A few days later Martinez told John Canzano that he “had no problem with Kyle or the collective” and insisted his decision didn’t have to do with NIL.

The story is a big mess and sends yet another bat signal about the transparency needed in NIL negotiations. It’ll be interesting to follow the narrative of where Martinez ends up. He has visits planned to Miami, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi State and Arizona during the next two weeks.

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Remember when we thought this window might be a little tamer since teams are still in the middle of spring practice? So much for that. Let’s take a look at what we’ve seen from this window so far — numbers are courtesy of The Athletic’s portal guru, Max Olson. Read his full breakdown of movement here.

• By 10:30 a.m. (ET) on Tuesday, 90 scholarship players had entered the portal. The significance? On the opening date of the spring window last year, 90 players entered in total.
• The first-day total: 221 FBS scholarship players entered the portal. That breaks down to 105 Power 4 transfers and 116 from the Group of 5.
• More than 20 percent of the first-day entries were repeat transfers. (More on this group later.)
• Colorado had nine players enter on Tuesday, including six who had transferred in for Year 1 under Deion Sanders. 👀
• The total number of FBS scholarship transfers in this cycle (which began Aug. 1, 2023) has surpassed 2,100. That’s a 25 percent increase from last year’s total at this time.

So, who entered? Max ranked the best available transfers and will update the list as the news continues. A few early names to watch include Arizona CB Tacario Davis (No. 2), Texas A&M safety Jacoby Mathews (No. 3) and Penn State WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith (No. 4). Ranked No. 1 is Oregon State RB Damien Martinez, whose transfer is particularly interesting.

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By my count, there are 35 players from the Big Ten whose names have become transfer portal entries since Monday morning. Illinois and Indiana both have five entries while Michigan State has four. It's no surprise with the Hoosiers and Spartans, both of whom have new coaches and had the Big Ten's highest entries after the first portal opening (Michigan State with 31, Indiana with 30). Illinois had low attrition in the last window with only nine departures.

The league's highest-profile exits start with tackle Kadyn Proctor, who started every game at Alabama last year, transferred to Iowa in January, then left the Iowa program the day before spring practice. Perhaps the most surprising exit is Penn State receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who led the Nittany Lions last year with 53 catches for 673 yards and four touchdowns.

With a few teams wrapping up spring practice this week, there likely will be some departures Monday. The Ohio State backup quarterback situation also bears watching. So far, none at that position have entered the portal this spring.

Michigan State DT Simeon Barrow Jr. has entered the portal as a graduate transfer. The 30-game starter has twice earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors for the Spartans and has recorded 110 tackles, 18.5 TFLs, 10.5 sacks and two blocked field goals in his career. Barrow briefly went in the portal last October after Mel Tucker's firing but withdrew and stayed through the spring.

At almost any college football program, Cam Goode would have been among the 85 players receiving a full-ride scholarship.

Goode played at Michigan, which had one of the deepest rosters of any team since the 85-man scholarship limit took effect in the Football Bowl Subdivision in 1994. Before the 2023 season, Goode was asked to give up his scholarship to make room for another player. Instead of transferring to a school that could offer him a scholarship, Goode chose to stay at Michigan and pay for his tuition through name, image and likeness deals.

“I was totally open to it,” said Goode, a defensive tackle hoping to hear his name called in the upcoming NFL Draft. “I’m not a selfish person at all — if anything, selfless. It was all for the better. I knew they were going to take care of me. I’m a good player, they love me, I’ve got a great personality. I knew they’d take care of me, for sure.”

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Colorado TE Chamon Metayer has re-entered the transfer portal. The Cincinnati transfer had joined the team in January and was considered one of the top tight ends in the December portal cycle. The Buffs have had 11 scholarship players hit the portal so far this week, including seven players who'd joined the program via the portal.

With spring football over, Ohio State is now on to the next part of the college football offseason: the spring transfer portal. The two-week window for all undergraduates opened on Tuesday, and there will be plenty of movement around the country.

Ohio State made major moves in the winter window, adding safety Caleb Downs, quarterback Will Howard, running back Quinshon Judkins and center Seth McLaughlin. The spring window might not include the same amount of fireworks in Columbus, but some departures and some additions can be expected before the window closes on April 30.

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The inaugural NCAA transfer portal spring window opened for college football players on April 15 last year. On that date, only 90 FBS scholarship players put their names in the portal. Those were simpler times.

On Tuesday, the spring transfer window opened and 90 scholarship players were already in the portal by 10:30 a.m. ET. By the end of the day, more than 200 had entered the portal to kick off this 14-day period for underclassman transfers. Here’s what we learned from Day 1.

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Back in the old days of college football — you know, 24 long months ago when we still recognized this sport — fans had a stronger connection to the players on their favorite team’s roster.

In those ancient times, fans would follow recruiting, live and die by a high schooler’s decision, then watch the prospect sign a national letter of intent. If that player chose your favorite school, they embarked on a journey that mirrored yours — the same campus, classrooms, local restaurants, bars, all of it. Athletes might live very different lifestyles than we did in college, but we can picture them loving our school in the same way. That’s what connects us to them. That’s one reason we love college sports.

The spring transfer portal window opened Tuesday, with more than 200 players submitting their names. That was more than double the number from the first day of last year’s spring window. By the end of the week, last year’s numbers will be shattered.

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With the spring transfer portal door swung wide open, Deion Sanders’ sons are hitting the recruiting trail for Colorado, too. On Tuesday afternoon, Shilo Sanders, starting safety for the Buffaloes, posted on his Instagram story:

“DEFENSE TRANSFERS DM ME

OFFENSE TRANSFERS DM @SHEDEUERSANDERS”

In small text in parentheses below, Shilo Sanders wrote, (THIS IS NOT LAST CHANCE U).

Under Deion Sanders’ watch in Year 1, the Buffaloes made a historic roster flip with the transfer portal. In 2023, Colorado had 68 new scholarship players after Sanders inherited a 1-11 team from the previous year. The Buffaloes finished 4-8 last season.

According to The Athletic’s Max Olson, nine Colorado players entered the portal on Tuesday: former five-star cornerback Cormani McClain, wide receivers Tar’Varish Dawson and Jacob Page, offensive linemen Savion Washington, David Conner and Isaiah Jatta, defensive lineman Chazz Wallace and safeties Myles Slusher and Jaden Milliner-Jones.

We’ll see if Shilo and Shedeur Sanders make any progress as portal advisers.

Penn State’s lone portal activity so far today is ... the pending departure of reserve receiver Malick Meiga, who entered the portal this evening. Meiga has been buried on the depth chart here for the last few years, but his speed helped make him a special teams captain last season. It’s certainly not a surprise after four seasons and a limited impact on the field here.

Penn State, without KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Meiga, still has 13 scholarships invested in wide receivers. That number includes signees Tyseer Denmark and Peter Gonzalez, who have yet to enroll.