Jake Retzlaff's story underscores the complexity of the Transfer Portal and school policies

Facing a seven-game suspension for violating the school's honor code, Jake Retzlaff is withdrawing from BYU and will become a sought-after free agent, immediately eligible to play in the fall for a new school.

Retzlaff's case highlights the complexities of the Transfer Portal and differing school policies.

Retzlaff will not be entering the Transfer Portal because the portal is currently closed until December. He could wait and enter the portal in December, but he would be sitting out this entire season. Instead, Retzlaff will follow a similar path that Xavier Lucas forged when he left Wisconsin for Miami (FL).

Retzlaff will simply enroll at another school and "walk on" the football team. He won't be on scholarship, but whatever program he ends up on will undoubtedly make it worth his while from an NIL perspective.

The only other way Retzlaff could have entered the portal now would have been if BYU granted his release as a designated student athlete. For whatever reason, that plan changed, and now Retzlaff is taking the only path he can that will allow him to play football this season.

Retzlaff was accused of sexual assault in May as part of a civil suit that was ultimately dismissed at the end of last month. In the process, however, Retzlaff admitted to premarital sex, which is a violation of BYU's honor code. He will not be subject to that suspension at any other institution.

Retzlaff will draw a lot of attention as a veteran QB on the market

Retzlaff didn't put up eye-popping statistics last season in Provo, but he did lead BYU to an 11-2 record in his 13 starts. He threw for 2947 yards with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

There will be plenty of coaches who are desperate for a QB upgrade heading into the fall. The season starts in less than two months, and plenty of teams still have major questions at QB. It's rare at this point of the summer that a proven QB would hit the market.

BYU insider Ben Criddle listed the programs he heard might have interest in the now former Cougars QB, and it's a list that features quite a few power-4 programs:

While teams like Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Notre Dame would undoubtedly like to add some veteran depth to their QB rooms, this late in the process, it would be unlikely that Retzlaff would have a legitimate opportunity at pushing for a starting job at any of those schools.

Alabama, Georgia, and Notre Dame all had opportunities in both the winter and spring Transfer Portal to pursue QBs. All three programs declined, signaling comfort with the status of their rooms.

Tennessee lost Nico Iamaleava to the portal in the spring, but they added UCLA's Joey Aguilar in what was effectively a QB-for-QB trade between the two programs.

Retzlaff is a graduate student and only has one season of eligibility remaining. He's going to go somewhere he has a clear path to the starting job.