College football is changing too fast for the NCAA to keep up, and perhaps there’s a point in the not-so-distant future when schools are allowed to trade players. We’ve already reached annual free agency with the transfer portal and NIL’s influence, so why not take the next step and give personnel departments more jurisdiction and negotiating power in roster management?
Unenforceable tampering restrictions would no longer lead to complaints if we just ripped off the adhesive bandage and signed players to binding contracts. You want to play elsewhere? The university you play for must agree to it.
“You don’t even have to trade, just get them to transfer,” one Power Four personnel staffer jokingly told CBS Sports about the idea of a college football trade deadline.
We’re not interested in opening the amateurism can of worms for now. This is meant to be a simple fun, offseason discussion on hypothetical trades that would make fans refresh their timelines as fast as the Luka Dončić for Anthony Davis deal managed to do earlier this week.
Bell cow back for much-needed firepower
The proposal: Penn State RB Kaytron Allen for Alabama WR Ryan Williams
The pitch: The Nittany Lions return a wealth of riches in the backfield with dual 1,000-yard rushers Allen and Nicholas Singleton. Why not trade one of those former elite recruits to the Crimson Tide for a premiere, true No. 1 option in the passing game for Drew Allar? Penn State’s only 1,000-yard wideouts in the last decade were Jahan Dotson (2021) and Chris Godwin (2015) and this offense also will be without All-American tight end Tyler Warren. Alabama lost its leading rusher Justice Haynes to Michigan in the portal and Allen is bell-cow replacement. This works for both elite contenders.
Coach Prime gets two for one
The proposal: Notre Dame CB Christian Gray + LB Jaiden Ausberry for Colorado QB Kaidon Salter
The pitch: Positional value is uneven here, so Notre Dame would likely have to offer multiple players to get a quarterback. Gray was up and down last season at field corner, but did make the game-winning interception against Penn State in the playoff semifinal. Ausberry is Notre Dame’s most versatile defender and will play the Will or Rover spot at linebacker in 2025, but there’s enough talent there to replace him. After losing Riley Leonard, the Fighting Irish need a proven threat under center and Salter would provide it. Marcus Freeman said Notre Dame had no plans to take a portal quarterback this cycle, but a player of Salter’s caliber who could keep the quarterback run game going in 2025 would alter that mindset?
One stipulation would be Notre Dame’s willingness to pick up Salter’s NIL deal with the Buffaloes. He is one of Colorado’s highest-paid players and if the Fighting Irish soak up those funds, that would give Deion Sanders additional money to go hunting before the season begins after spring. Why is Salter expendable? Five-star quarterback Julian Lewis is Colorado’s 2025 signing class gem.
Defensive help for the reigning champs
The proposal: Ohio State WRs Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss for South Carolina edge Dylan Stewart
The pitch: It’s hard to imagine the Buckeyes giving up their No. 2 and No. 3 wideouts behind all-world playmaker Jeremiah Smith, but given the wealth of talent within the position group, this team could absorb these departures. The Gamecocks badly need pass catchers to take advantage of playoff opportunity window provided by rising superstar quarterback LaNorris Sellers — dangling their top returning defender and former five-star could be just enough bait. They are welcoming half-dozen freshmen at the position in the 2025 cycle.
Ohio State was a finalist for Stewart during his recruitment and the Buckeyes’ are tasked with replacing their top three pass rushers off their title team. Whether Ohio State promotes from within to fill its defensive coordinator vacancy or hires from the outside, don’t you think the addition of Stewart — who has two years of eligibility remaining — would make the position even more attractive? An elite pass rushing threat would certainly make things easier on Caleb Downs and the secondary in 2025.
Let Perkins cook off the edge
The proposal: LSU LB Harold Perkins Jr. for Michigan S Rod Moore
The pitch: Perkins is a former five-star who missed most of the 2024 season with a knee injury, as did Moore for the Wolverines. LSU’s defensive staff has struggled a bit with where to play Perkins after he had 7.5 sacks as a true freshman in 2022. The natural, aggressive pass rusher with elite speed looks uncomfortable covering in space at linebacker. With dependable linebacker options Jaishawn Barham and Ernest Hausmann return returning, Michigan could move Perkins back to the EDGE where he can reek havoc.
LSU needs more bodies in the secondary and believes it has addressed those needs in the portal, but Moore is a veteran with top-end experience. On the other side, the Wolverines were able to get a good look at others at the position in 2024 during his time on the mend. After setting a number of dubious records in against the pass in 2023, the Tigers didn’t fare much better last fall, ranking 111th nationally in passes intercepted. Moore would help across the board.