The spring transfer portal window in college football gives players plenty of leverage to re-negotiate NIL arrangements with their current teams, but not every head coach is giving in. Josh Heupel told now-former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamleava to take a walk, and in a significantly less publicized dispute, Fran Brown moved on from the ACC receptions leader, Trebor Pena.
On Tuesday, a day before the transfer portal officially opened, the news broke that Pena was headed to the portal, and in an interview on Wednesday, Brown told ESPN Radio Syracuse, that the program “paid him enough” and that “he was going to get paid more, but there were some numbers that were asked of me that I didn’t feel I would be able to do everything that was needed.”
But maybe Penn State could.
Penn State may need another wide receiver addition
According to Brown’s statements, the redshirt junior who caught 84 passes for 941 yards and nine touchdowns was asking for $2 million for his final year of eligibility, which in many cases is the going rate for a quarterback. Pena also cited concerns about Syracuse’s transfer quarterback Rickie Collins, but he may not have the same concerns about playing for Drew Allar.
Since Pena entered the transfer portal, he’s been connected to Miami (FL), but Penn State is about as needy in the wide receiver room as any team in the country. While James Franklin likely expended much of Penn State’s NIL resources to retain his veteran stars like Allar, Nicholas Singleton, Kaytron Allen, and Dani Dennis-Sutton, the program may have enough left to add an elite slot receiver like Pena for its national championship bid in 2025.
The Nittany Lions are all-in on this season, but adding Kyron Hudson and Devonte Ross may not have been enough in the winter portal cycle. This time last year, Penn State stood pat in the spring cycle with dreams of Liam Clifford emerging as a star and Julian Fleming taking the next step after transferring from Ohio State, but the lack of talent on the outside cost the team in every big game of the season. Franklin has a chance to avoid making the same mistake twice.
Pena’s skillset could be the ideal fit alongside Hudson and Ross, with the former’s physicality and the latter’s deep speed. Pena is a reliable possession receiver from the slot, but he’s also capable of making plays after the catch and occasionally stretching the field vertically.
Clifford and redshirt freshman Tyseer Denmark have spent the offseason battling for starting reps in the slot, but Clifford hasn’t proven himself as a capable option over the last three seasons, and Denmark is wholly unproven. Without Tyler Warren in the passing game next season, Andy Kotelnicki will need to establish new options for Allar, and without another offseason addition, the Nittany Lions may not have enough weapons to compete with Ohio State and Oregon for a Big Ten title.
$2 million could be a bit rich for Pena, who, despite his production, is a high-volume passing offense, isn’t a true No. 1 option. Though if that money is enough for Penn State to get beyond the College Football Playoff Semifinal, it’d be money well spent.