The spring transfer window for NCAA football players could be going away.
Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported Friday that the NCAA’s Football Oversight Committee has recommended the elimination of the spring transfer portal window, which would leave just one window in the winter for players to enter the portal and be eligible to play the following season.
The recommendation would go into effect immediately if it is adopted by the Division I Council, leaving Dec. 9 through Jan. 7 as the only transfer window for the 2024-25 offseason.
The proposal is supported by all four power conferences as well as the American Football Coaches Association, per Dellenger.
The potential move to eliminate the spring transfer window comes as college football teams seek increased roster stability in future offseasons. While the majority of transfer activity took place during the winter window this past offseason, the looming threat of further transfers created uncertainty that teams had to navigate throughout spring practice before their rosters became more fully set in May.
Eliminating the spring transfer window would also come with several potential drawbacks, however. For one, it would force players to make decisions about whether or not to transfer for the following season while the College Football Playoff is still ongoing – though players on teams still playing in January will receive an extra five-day portal window – increasing the likelihood that playoff teams will lose players before their seasons are over.
Additionally, it increases the likelihood that players who are cut from their teams as roster sizes shrink to 105 next season will be unable to transfer and play immediately in 2025. Per Dellenger, most college football teams are expected to trim their rosters down to 105 between next spring and summer in preparation for the implementation of college sports’ new model on July 1, 2025.
Ohio State lost 19 scholarship players and added six scholarship players from the transfer portal last winter while it lost just six scholarship players and added just one scholarship player from the portal in the post-spring window this offseason.
