Michigan QB Cade McNamara enters transfer portal ahead of Big Ten title game

Cade McNamara, the centerpiece for a Michigan team that won a Big Ten championship and reached the College Football Playoff in 2021, is moving on.

The starting quarterback has elected to enter the NCAA transfer portal as a graduate student, guaranteeing himself immediate eligibility for next season, a team spokesman confirmed to MLive.

The move comes just two days after the Wolverines beat archrival Ohio State for a second straight season to win the Big Ten’s East division, confirming its spot in the league championship game against Purdue on Saturday in Indianapolis (8 p.m., FOX).

McNamara has been sidelined since Week 3, when he suffered a knee injury during the first half. He never returned, despite optimism that he would be healthy by the end of the season. The 6-foot-1, 206-pound quarterback lost the starting job to J.J. McCarthy in Week 2 as part of an early-season tug-of-war.

The Reno, Nev., native had surgery in southern California earlier this month to repair the right knee, a revelation he disclosed publicly on social media. “Turns out I have been dealing with a serious injury since the middle of last season,” McNamara wrote.

More: Michigan rises to No. 2 in AP, coaches’ polls after win over Ohio State

It was quite the turn for McNamara, who rose to prominence during a tumultuous, pandemic-plagued season in 2020 and won the starting job outright in ‘21. He never filled up the stat sheet, but became a key cog in a Michigan offense that overpowered teams on the ground. McNamara earned third-team all-Big Ten honors from the media and coaches, and appeared to win over his teammates.

So much so that Michigan’s team voted McNamara one of five captains for the 2022 season, and one of three on the offensive side of the ball. He got the start in Week 1 but his play was overshadowed by that of McCarthy, the former five-star recruit who flashed his brilliance in the opener.

A former four-star recruit, McNamara came to Michigan in 2019 at a time when the program’s quarterback room was crowded. Shea Patterson, Dylan McCaffrey and Joe Milton, quarterbacks all recruited ahead of McNamara, were on the team and either exhausted their eligibility or transferred out.

McNamara stuck it out, won a championship and helped guide a Michigan offense to new heights. But he proved to have a short lease on the job, pushing him down the depth chart and, eventually, out the door.

He will likely have many suitors in the transfer portal. McNamara threw for more than 2,500 yards and 15 touchdowns during the 2021 season, completing more than 64 percent of his passes. He only threw six interceptions and proved to be careful with the football, a trait that should make him attractive for another high-level school in need of a quarterback.

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