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3 SEC football teams who probably offered Taulia Tagovailoa ‘crazy money’ to transfer

By Cody Williams

MADISON, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 05: Taulia Tagovailoa #3 of the Maryland Terrapins drops back to pass against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on November 05, 2022 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
MADISON, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 05: Taulia Tagovailoa #3 of the Maryland Terrapins drops back to pass against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on November 05, 2022 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) /
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Taulia Tagovailoa, SEC football
Graham Mertz, Florida Gators (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) /

2. Taulia Tagovailoa being offered to transfer to Florida would make sense

Much in the same vein as Auburn, the Florida Gators were left with their hands thrown in the air once Anthony Richardson made the correct decision to leave for the NFL. But with Richardson on the Indianapolis Colts, there were few obvious answers left at quarterback for Billy Napier going into the 2023 season.

Again like Auburn, the Gators also ended up landing a former Big Ten passer to helm the offense for the upcoming year, getting former Wisconsin signal-caller Graham Mertz to come to Gainesville by way of the portal.

While Mertz was a highly touted recruit before he landed in Madison, the results on the field have been lackluster at best for him. He posted a career-best 2,136 yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last year. But in his second full season as the starter and with 22 appearances under his belt prior to that, you would’ve expected more.

Much of the reporting around Florida coming into the 2023 season has said that Mertz has been a bit up-and-down throughout the spring and up to now. Napier surely recognizes this as well.

Subsequently, it’s not a stretch to think that, either before they looked to grab Mertz out of the portal or, even worse, after they saw him in the spring with the Florida offense, Napier and the Gators could’ve dialed up Tagovailoa and hoped that they could offer enough NIL money to get him to save this offense.

If that were the case, though, obviously, it didn’t work. And it also would raise quite a few alarms

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