With the NCAA transfer portal set to open on Jan. 2, members of the Florida football team are deciding whether to stay or go ahead of the New Year’s deadline. While some early shockwaves were sent a week ago when wide receiver Muizz Tounkara entered on Nov. 29 and defensive lineman Tarvorise Brown declared on Dec. 10, nothing compared to this week’s action.
Monday Portal Entries
A seismic earthquake rocked the Gators on Monday with five portal entries stealing the show not just locally, but nationally too — with quarterback DJ Lagway announcing his time at Florida was over and he would be entering the transfer portal. Following Lagway’s announcement, four more Gators announced their names into the free agency sweepstakes.
KD Daniels
Daniels became the second Florida player to enter the portal on Monday. The decision to leave is not a huge surprise to those close to the program, as the talented redshirt freshman from West Point, Mississippi, is seeking a larger role elsewhere. Daniels consistently found himself getting lost in the shuffle of a crowded running back room. He appeared in 10 games, carried the ball 28 times for 108 yards and scored one touchdown.
Amir Jackson
Redshirt freshman Amir Jackson made his decision known via social media on Monday. Jackson appeared in 11 games in 2025, spending most of his time on special teams. He did, however, haul in three catches for 29 yards and recorded one touchdown, which came against Texas A&M.
Jordan Castell
Outside of Lagway, three-year starting safety Jordan Castell became the most notable defender for Florida at this point to enter the portal. The former four-star from Orlando made 34 career starts for the Gators, going into the Tennessee game before missing the season-finale game against FSU. This season, Castell recorded the third most tackles on the team (54) and had a team-high two interceptions.
During a four-game stretch against Miami, Texas, Texas A&M and Georgia, Castell racked up an impressive 26 tackles, two interceptions and one quarterback hurry. He finishes his time with 168 career tackles. 12 pass breakups, three interceptions and one sack.
Mike Peterson Jr.
A freshman walk-on and the son of UF edge rushers coach Mike Peterson, Peterson did not play in any games this season. A three-star recruit, he caught 24 passes for 258 yards and four touchdowns at Fort White High School during his senior season in 2024.
Josiah Davis
Florida redshirt freshman safety Josiah Davis announced Monday that he plans to enter the transfer portal. Davis appeared in five games over two seasons on defense and special teams and has three years of eligibility remaining.
Tuesday Portal Entries
Aidan Mizell
The first aftershock hit Gainesville following Monday’s wave when redshirt sophomore receiver Aidan Mizell announced he would be entering the transfer portal. Mizell became one of Florida’s most well kept secret as he never really got a chance to breakout onto the scene due to injuries and falling behind on the depth chart.
Mizell, a man known for his speed, showed promising glimpses these last two seasons – but again, could not put it together when chances arrived. During the 2025 season, Mizell appeared in just eight games, hauled in 19 catches for 177 yards and one touchdown that came in the 20-10 loss to LSU. He finishes his Florida career with 38 catches for 404 yards and three touchdowns. It is worth noting that his brother Isaiah, is a wideout at Arizona.
Teddy Foster
Teddy Foster became the 10th Gator to hit the transfer portal with announcement on Tuesday. Foster is a 6-foot, 175-pound redshirt-freshman defensive back out of Sarasota. Foster appeared in six games this season, mostly all on special teams. He did play 12 defensive snaps and recorded on solo tackle that came in the season-opener against Long Island. Foster has three years of eligibility remaining.
Jadan Baugh Portal News
With the portal not officially opening for another two weeks, expect a number of players to make their decisions on whether they want to stay or leave in the coming days.
One name to keep an eye on is running back Jadan Baugh, who is in active negotiations with the program to try and retain the star ball-carrier. According to On3’s Pete Nakos, Florida feels strong about where they are at with Baugh, but certainly wants to get that locked down above anything else.
Baugh appeared in all 12 games, logging 220 carries for 1,170 yards and eight rushing touchdowns while adding 31 catches for 185 yards and two receiving touchdowns. In the regular-season finale against Florida State, Baugh put up a career day – rushed for 266 yards on 38 carries and scored two touchdowns. The 266 yards were the second-most rushing yards by a UF running back in program history.
