Miami needs to go all-in on Jack Pyburn if he decides to enter the transfer portal

The lawsuits from players representing the Class of 2022 have been fast and furious after the NCAA's decision to grant 5-for-5 eligibility and, for the most part, Miami Hurricanes football hasn't been involved either way.

But after Wednesday's development that allowed several players from that class to receive a temporary restraining order that grants them the opportunity to enter the transfer portal and potentially play another season of college football, the Hurricanes have been linked to former Florida and LSU edge rusher Jack Pyburn.

This Pyburn situation is super complicated because he's currently in an NFL camp and just had a couple of sacks for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their preseason game. But, as Gaby Urrutia from 247Sports reported, the Hurricanes and Mario Cristobal have some history as the coach recruited Pyburn out of Jacksonville Bolles when he was a prospect. 

READ MORE: Projecting the roles for each player in Miami's 2026 transfer portal class this season

Jack Pyburn could be the right guy at the right time for Miami

With Pyburn playing in an NFL preseason game already and signing an NFL contract as an undrafted free agent, there's a lot of legalese here that needs to be addressed. Greg Auman, who covers the NFL for FOXSports, said that the Bucs have Pyburn's rights. He's guaranteed $115K this season, and would obviously make much more if he breaks camp on the 53-man roster. 

But if he decided to return to college, Pyburn's contract with the Bucs would be voided, but the team would retain his rights. So it's not a situation where he could come back to college for a big payday and re-enter the NFL Draft in hopes of being a high-round pick. But it's likely that a player of Pyburn's caliber could get a big NIL deal to return to college, and it would be the equivalent of the Bucs sending him through a minor league.

So where does Miami enter in this situation? Well, if Pyburn enters the portal, he can go where he likes and the bidding for the 6-foot-4, 258-pound pass rusher would be fierce. Over the past two seasons, Pyburn had 112 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and three sacks for the Tigers and Gators respectively. 

And the Miami Hurricanes could definitely use some more quality, experienced depth at edge rusher. Hayden Lowe was expected to jump into a bigger role this season, but the former five-star prospect left the program before training camp. There's optimism that a young, talented player like Herb Scroggins III would emerge, but he's still a question mark compared to Pyburn.

READ MORE: Hayden Lowe's exit just handed Miami's unproven players a massive opportunity

There's a lot left to be determined, but there's no question that Cristobal, defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman and defensive ends coach Jason Taylor are keeping a very close eye on what happens next. Because if Pyburn is searching for a college football home, Coral Gables might be a perfect fit. 

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