UPDATE: Apr. 30, 11:30 p.m.
As of Saturday evening, Addison has yet to enter the Transfer Portal. T
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DK Pittsburgh Sports can confirm a report Friday evening that star Pitt receiver Jordan Addison is exploring options to transfer out of Pitt football for another major power five program on a big NIL deal:
Confirming @ThePoniExpressβ initial report that Jordan Addison is transferring from #Pitt, an absolute blow to the program from the Biletnikoff Award winner who had a local NIL deal, a new big-armed QB, on a preseason top 10 ranked FPI team. NIL changing college landscape.
β Christopher Carter (@CarterCritiques) April 30, 2022
Addison became Pitt's third Biletnikoff Award winner in program history, tying Alabama and Oklahoma State for the most winners in college football. He led the country with 17 touchdown receptions and 1,593 receiving yards in 2021 were both the second-most in program history, only behind Larry Fitzgerald's legendary 2003 season. Addison was seen as the undisputed leader of a talented Pitt receiver room that included new sophomore transfer Konata Mumpfield, returning senior Jared Wayne, and young upstarts in Jaylon Barden and Jalen Bradley.
As of Friday, Addison has not officially entered the Transfer Portal, which would need to be the first official step for his departure from the program. The official deadline for NCAA players to declare their new teams from the Transfer Portal and be eligible to play the next season is Sunday, May 1. That means to make this happen, Addison would have to both enter the Transfer Portal and pick his new school by that deadline.
Sources have told DK Pittsburgh Sports that Addison has received multiple NIL offers to programs, but that USC has emerged as a primary candidate with an offer that would be worth more than a million dollars.
The departure of Addison would be a major blow, and the biggest blow, to the Pitt football program under Pat Narduzzi. Addison is a superstar college player with the potential of being a first round pick in next year's NFL Draft and was a big reason why quarterback Kedon Slovis chose Pitt out of the Transfer Portal. Several of Pitt's biggest moments during their ACC Championship run in 2021 involved Addison, including this catch-and-run touchdown that clinched their win over Virginia and ACC Coastal title:
On his 81st birthday, Pitt's Bill Hillgrove brought the energy on his radio call of the Jordan Addison's game-clinching TD π#H2P Β» @937theFan pic.twitter.com/xxe5J0IgGR
β Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) November 21, 2021
Should the reports prove true that Addison would be leaving Pitt for a major NIL deal, it would be a landscape-shifting move in college football. While there are many players who receive NIL deals and many more who transfer every year, Addison would be a unique case as a superstar for a power five program with recent success who already had a local NIL deal in place. In addition, Pitt made the effort to supply Addison with a big-armed quarterback in Slovis out of the Transfer Portal, and was ranked by ESPN's football power index to be the ninth-ranked preseason team in college football.
Such a player as talented as Addison leaving a program similar to Pitt's standing while having an NIL deal in place is unique. The majority of transfer players have reasons tied to coaching changes, depth chart battles, and/or philosophical differences with the program they leave. Presumably, Addison's situation would be fundamentally different as he would primarily be leaving due to a more valuable NIL offer.
More to come ...
