Penn State spring transfer portal primer: Dates to know, numbers by position, and more
Penn State football is on the cusp of the latest roster-altering period ahead of the 2025 season. The spring transfer portal window opens Wednesday. It will start and finish before the Nittany Lions finish spring practice with the Blue-White game on April 26 at Beaver Stadium (2 p.m. ET, no TV).
“It’s crazy,” Lions coach James Franklin said back in March. “It’s like having the transfer portal open during the playoffs. Doesn’t make a whole lot sense, right? It’s the same thing. We’re playing our season, having to make plans for NIL and the transfer portal like everybody in the country, and you had to have those deals done before the transfer portal closed because that affected people’s decisions.”
Offensive lineman JB Nelson became the first player to make his intentions about moving on clear back on Monday. He might be the first but will not be the last. Get ready for a wild 10 days ahead with our portal preview below.
How long does the window last?
It’s 10 days. Players can officially go in on Wed., April 16 through Fri., April 25. Of course, compliance departments have two days to submit the paperwork. So, you could still see players popping up in the portal as late as the day after the Blue-White game.
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Who has Penn State lost so far this offseason?
Nelson was the first Penn State player to signal his plan for the spring window. But, he’s not the first Nittany Lion to leave since the 2024 season ended. A handful of Lions left in the winter window. Here’s the list and also where each player ended up:
TE Jerry Cross: Memphis.
QB Beau Pribula: Missouri.
S Tyrece Mills: UCONN
CB Cam Miller: Rutgers
WR Trey Wallace: Ole Miss
WR Omari Evans: Washington
DT T.A. Cunningham: JUCO
WR Mehki Flowers: Akron
WR Tyler Johnson: East Carolina
How does the Lions roster currently break down by position?
After Nelson’s departure, Penn State is at 119 players as of April 15 before 11 more members of the Class of 2025 arrive later this year. If the House vs. NCAA case is settled with no changes, the team will need to be down to 105 players by the time preseason camp starts. It’s why more departures than pickups are expected in this window. It’s also why there will be more Lions moving on, in all likelihood, in this spring portal window compared to all of the ones before it combined.
Here are the position-by-position numbers:
| CB | 8 |
| DE | 12 |
| DT | 11 |
| K | 3 |
| LB | 12 |
| LS | 3 |
| OL | 23 |
| P | 2 |
| QB | 5 |
| RB | 8 |
| S | 10 |
| TE | 7 |
| WR | 15 |
