Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell watches a drill during fall training camp at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Mike De Sisti / The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

New college football transfer portal window opening back up for Wisconsin Badgers next week

Originally posted on Wisconsin Badgers on SI
By Lorin Cox | Last updated Jul 2, 2025 3:20 PM ET

The Wisconsin Badgers' football roster might not be set for fall camp after all.

This time of year, all of the attention is on high school recruiting, but the new college football rules coming out of the NCAA's legal settlement are changing the landscape.

According to Yahoo Sports reporter Ross Dellenger, the NCAA's Committee on Legislative Relief is allowing for a new, one-time transfer portal window to open next week but only for specific players.

There is a new, one-time transfer portal window.

NCAA Committee on Legislative Relief has issued a waiver to permit athletes who schools place on “Designated Student-Athlete” lists to enter the portal July 7-Aug. 5.

DSAs are grandfathered-in athletes exempt from roster limits.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) July 2, 2025

Here's how it will work:

Under the NCAA's settlement agreement, football programs are now subject to roster limits.

The problem is, schools have been recruiting players and building rosters without limits, so they have players who were promised spots that might not be able to get them because of the new limits.

The NCAA created an exception for those players, which they're calling "designated student athletes" who won't count against a program's roster limit. Schools have to submit their list of DSA players by July 6.

The NCAA now says it is opening a new transfer portal window just for those players designed by their schools as DSAs that don't count against the roster limit.

According to Dellenger, schools can place as many players on the DSA list as they want, but they have to meet certain criteria and will then be free to transfer in this new portal window.

So once Wisconsin and every other school submits their DSA list by July 6, those players can then choose to enter the portal and be recruited by other programs if they want to. They won't count on roster limits no matter where they play.

That will give Luke Fickell the opportunity to pursue additional experienced players for his roster, which could come in handy as they continue to experiment with left tackle replacements for the injured Kevin Haywood, among other upgrades.

Teams will be smart enough not to make their best players potentially available, but it's an chance to poach overlooked talent from other rosters while trying not to lose your own.