Iowa’s McNamara enters portal, eyes 7th season

Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara entered the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday and will look to play a seventh college season elsewhere in 2025.

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound graduate transfer threw for 1,522 yards and 10 touchdowns with eight interceptions in 13 games with the Hawkeyes during his two-years in the program.

McNamara suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his fifth game in 2023 and returned to start eight games this season before missing Iowa’s final four games with a concussion.

McNamara began his career at Michigan in 2019 and was the Wolverines’ starter during their run to a Big Ten title and College Football Playoff appearance in 2021. He transferred to Iowa at the end of the 2022 season after J.J. McCarthy took over the starting job at Michigan.

McNamara would need the NCAA to grant a waiver for an additional year of eligibility to play next season. He suffered a season-ending knee injury at Michigan in 2022 and appeared in only three games that season, so he could seek a medical redshirt to get that year back.

After he did not travel with the team to Iowa’s game at Maryland, McNamara posted a statement on X responding to what he called “ridiculous accusations” about his status with the team. McNamara wrote that had been cleared to participate in practice after suffering a concussion against Northwestern on Oct. 26 but had not been cleared to resume playing.

Brendan Sullivan, a Northwestern transfer, replaced McNamara as Iowa’s starter before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. Third-string quarterback Jackson Stratton stepped in and led the Hawkeyes to wins over Maryland and Nebraska to finish 8-4. Sullivan and Stratton can return in 2025, but the Hawkeyes are also expected to explore adding a quarterback via the transfer portal this offseason.