200 FBS quarterbacks went into portal, and the best ones came out with promises of big paychecks

About 200 Football Bowl Subdivision quarterbacks entered the transfer portal by last week's deadline. That doesn't mean it's a buyer's market. The top programs in the power conferences are paying a premium for players at the most important position on the field. Experienced starters commanded financial packages worth north of $3 million, according to media reports. Among the 68 quarterbacks who were starters in 2025 at power conference schools and Notre Dame, 24 are out of eligibility, 16 entered the portal and 28 indicated they would return to their teams. On paper, that would leave 40 open starter's jobs in the Power Four in 2026. In reality, many of those have been spoken for by starters moving from one school to another. A rundown of the top quarterback transfers, based on 247Sports rankings: Sam Leavitt, LSU Lane Kiffin was able to swoop in, get Leavitt and fend off multiple suitors to sign the top-ranked player in the portal. A foot injury limited Leavitt to seven games for Arizona State this past season. Last year, he led the Sun Devils to an 11-2 record, Big 12 championship and the College Football Playoff. He threw for 4,513 yards and 34 TDs with nine interceptions in 20 games at Arizona State. Brendan Sorsby, Texas Tech At a reported $5 million, Sorsby received the most lucrative financial deal of the portal period to move from Cincinnati to his home state for his final season. In 35 career games at Indiana and Cincinnati, including 31 starts, he's thrown for 7,208 yards and 60 touchdowns and rushed for 1,295 rushing yards and 22 TDs. Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State Mestemaker is following coach Eric Morris from North Texas to Oklahoma State after one of the most productive seasons in history for a freshman. He led the nation with 4,379 yards passing and 34 touchdowns through the air and will have three years of eligibility. Also following Morris to Stillwater is UNT offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Sean Brophy. DJ Lagway, Baylor A change of scenery could do wonders for Lagway after two seasons at Florida, where he won his last four starts in 2024 but was 4-8 in 2025. Injuries hampered him and fans turned on him after he threw five interceptions in a loss to LSU and three in a loss to Kentucky. The 6-foot-3, 247-pound Lagway's raw talent is unquestioned. Dylan Raiola, Oregon Raiola was the highest-rated recruit in Nebraska history but was just 13-9 as the starter the last two years and he took 54 sacks. His 2025 season ended with a broken leg against Southern California on Nov. 1. With Dante Moore returning to Oregon instead of entering the NFL draft, Raiola will be the backup before taking over in 2027. Darian Mensah, TBD Mensah left Duke in a lurch when he announced he would enter the portal just ahead of the deadline. Duke sued Mensah on Tuesday for breach of contract. His expected landing place is Miami, if he gets through the litigation. Interestingly, Mensah already has helped Miami by leading Duke past Virginia in the ACC championship game to get the Hurricanes their CFP bid. Husan Longstreet, LSU Longstreet will be backup to Leavitt after appearing in four games as a freshman at Southern California. He was a five-star prospect, the No. 1 player in California and the nation's No. 3 quarterback when he was coming out of high school in Corona, California. Deuce Knight, Mississippi Knight, who appeared in two games at Auburn as a freshman, jumped at the opportunity to return to his home state when the NCAA denied Trinidad Chambliss' petition for a sixth season of eligibility. Chambliss is taking the NCAA to court but, regardless, the Rebels had to get a QB when Chambliss' backup, Austin Simmons, transferred to Missouri. Byrum Brown, Auburn Brown followed coach Alex Golesh from South Florida and will enter his fourth season running his head coach's offense. Brown led FBS quarterbacks with 42 total touchdowns and averaged 347.2 yards of offense per game in 2025. Brown will be joined by six receivers who also transferred from South Florida. Rocco Becht, Penn State Becht won 26 of his 39 starts for Iowa State and went with head coach Matt Campbell and offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser to Happy Valley for his final season. He led the Cyclones to the Big 12 title game in 2024 and had a nation-leading streak of 22 games over two seasons with at least one touchdown pass.