4 Matthew Sluka transfer destinations after UNLV refuses to pay up

The college football world got knocked on its axis early Wednesday morning, as UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka announced his decision to leave the 3-0 Rebels in order to redshirt the 2024 season and reenter the transfer portal with an eye toward 2025. It's a nearly unprecedented move, a starter opting to bail on a team in the midst of arguably the best start in school history; UNLV has already notched wins over Big 12 foes Houston and Kansas and seems primed to contend for a Mountain West title and even, potentially, the Group of 5 spot in the new 12-team College Football Playoff.

And almost as soon as Sluka made the announcement, the PR war began. Sluka's representation claimed that the QB was verbally promised $100,000 to transfer to UNLV, money that never came despite repeated requests. Rumors around the Rebels program, meanwhile, claim that Sluka either asked for more money after the team's fast start or received a more lucrative offer from another (as-yet-unnamed) program.

Only time will tell which version of events is true. (Personally, it seems hard to believe that Sluka would be willing to sit out an entire season — and gamble with his playing career — unless he either had an offer in hand or was made assurances to that effect.) One thing, however, is for sure: Sluka will be playing elsewhere in 2025. The fifth-year senior isn't the most polished passer, completing just 43.8% of his throws over three starts for UNLV. But he's a dangerous dual-threat — he posted back-to-back 1,200-yard rushing seasons at Holy Cross before transferring to Vegas — and a gritty playmaker, and with experienced QBs in such high demand across the country, he figures to have plenty of suitors come next winter. Where might he wind up? Let's take a look at four of the most likely landing spots.

4. Colorado

We'll get this one out of the way first. With Shedeur Sanders seemingly a lock for the NFL Draft next spring, the Buffs figure to be in the market for a QB once again — and if we've learned one thing about Deion Sanders since he took over in Boulder, it's that he prefers to do his shopping in the portal. As you'd expect when the starter is the coach's son, Colorado hasn't really recruited anyone beyond Shedeur, leaving a more or less barren depth chart behind once the younger Sanders does go pro.

So why not take a look at Sluka? He's already spent a year on Mountain Time, and his ability to make plays with his legs figures to be crucial for a Buffaloes squad whose offensive line remains, shall we say, a work in progress. When you're starting from scratch like Colorado figures to be next season, you want a guy with Sluka's experience and athleticism behind center.

3. Rutgers

Sluka is a Northeast guy; he grew up on Long Island before starting his college career with three years at Holy Cross, an FCS program in Massachusetts. A move to Piscataway brings him back closer to home, and if you've spent any time watching him play, you know he's exactly what Greg Schiano is looking for in a quarterback.

Sluka is a hard-nosed player, more than willing to take on contact as a runner, and his dual-threat ability figures to mesh well with a Rutgers team that has more or less abandoned the forward pass in recent seasons. Schiano wants to run the ball, control the clock and play great defense, and that formula has the Scarlet Knights at 3-0 after an impressive win in Blacksburg over Virginia Tech. Schiano dipped into the portal last winter to pull Athan Kaliakmanis from Minnesota, but while Kaliakmanis has another year of eligibility remaining, he's strictly a game manager who doesn't bring any of Sluka's athleticism. Rutgers would offer Sluka the chance to prove himself against Big 10 competition with a solid roster around him and a game plan tailored to his strengths and style.

2. Syracuse

Of course, Rutgers isn't the only team in the Northeast that figures to need a quarterback this offseason. Kyle McCord has another year of eligibility remaining, but if he keeps up his hot start, it'll be hard to keep him from testing the waters of the NFL Draft in a year without a slam-dunk talent at the top of the board. Syracuse doesn't have much in the way of long-term depth behind McCord as new coach Fran Brown reshapes this roster on the fly, and Brown was among the most active coaches in the transfer portal this past winter.

Sluka is from the area, and he'd be a floor-raiser for an Orange team that will still very much in flux entering year two of the Brown Era.

1. Auburn

Auburn figures to be topping a lot of these lists in the coming days, weeks and months, as Hugh Freeze's decision to forgo landing a QB in the portal last winter and stick with Payton Thorne continues to come back to haunt him (and could potentially cost him his job on the Plains). If Freeze does survive to see another season, it feels hard to believe that he'll make the same mistake twice, and Sluka checks a lot of the boxes Freeze has looked for in passers in the past.

Specifically, the Freeze offense has always worked best with a QB that can threaten defenses with his legs; think Malik Willis at Liberty and Bo Wallace at Ole Miss. (Thorne had never cracked 100 carries until his first year at Auburn, in which he racked up 134.) Sluka is tailor-made to run this offense, and the Tigers can offer a bevy of young weapons like five-star freshman receiver Cam Coleman to entice him to the SEC.