The Washington Huskies have lost their starting quarterback, according to a report by ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Demond Williams Jr., who led the Big Ten in total yards as a sophomore last season, will enter the transfer portal with a “do not contact” tag on his entry.
Williams confirmed his portal entry on Instagram at the same time as the celebration of life ceremony for deceased Huskies soccer player Mia Hamant was being held at UW. Fisch and most of the football team attended the ceremony, though Williams did not appear to be there.
Williams’ exit is surprising, as Thamel reported on Jan. 2 that Williams had signed a new deal to return to the Huskies in 2026. Now, according to Thamel, Washington and the Big Ten are prepared to pursue legal action. It was not known whether that would be aimed at Williams, a program that tampered with a signed player, or both.
Per a report by Ross Dellenger of Yahoo.com Sports, the agreement Williams signed was worth approximately $4 million and prohibits a player from entering the portal. So far, Washington has refused to enter Williams’ name into the portal.
Williams threw for 3,065 yards and rushed for 611 yards last season to lead the Huskies to a 9-4 season. At the time of this report, Washington had no clear answer to replace Williams. An experienced backup was already considered a need for the Huskies, who currently do not have a quarterback with a college passing attempt on the roster.
Jedd Fisch and his staff will likely dive into the transfer portal to find a new starter if Williams is indeed leaving. Washington returns two quarterbacks who will be redshirt freshmen next year — Dash Beierly and Treston “Kini” McMillan. True freshman Derek Zammit was also signed for the 2026 recruiting class.
LSU could be a potential landing spot for Williams. The Arizona native committed to Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss in 2023 before flipping to Jedd Fisch at Arizona and following Fisch to Washington. Kiffin recently accepted the head coaching position at LSU, and has been in the market for a transfer quarterback. Miami and Oregon are also looking to make a splash in the portal quarterback market.
A large price tag is becoming associated with the most important position in college football. It has been reported that Cincinnati’s Brendon Sorsby, the No. 2 quarterback to enter the transfer portal so far, will be paid as much as $5 million at Texas Tech.
Per a report from KJR Radio’s Dave “Softy” Mahler, the deal Williams signed on Friday was for combined revenue share and NIL for the 2026 season, and language exists in the contract to allow UW to pursue legal action. Both Fisch and Williams are represented by the Wasserman agency.
Schools do not release revenue share or NIL (name, image, likeness) contracts for athletes, and public records requests have yielded only heavily redacted documents with all pertinent information removed. It seems likely that Williams received a major offer from a program to leave Washington.
Several top quarterbacks remain in the transfer portal, including Sam Leavitt (ASU), DJ Lageway (Florida), Dylan Raiola (Nebraska) and Deuce Knight (Auburn). Who might be added to Washington’s roster will be something to watch over the next 10 days before the portal closes on Jan. 16.
This story originally appeared at www.emeraldcityspectrum.com.
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