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Wisconsin QB Braedyn Locke has played his last snaps for the Badgers.

Locke started nine games this season for Wisconsin in what was an unmitigated disaster of a season. Despite saying all the right things, Locke simply didn’t live up to the QB1 role after taking over for Tyler Van Dyke. TVD is also transferring.

Now, the Braedyn Locke era in Madison is over.

Braedyn Locke is leaving the Wisconsin Badgers and entering the transfer portal

Locke announced Wednesday afternoon that he’s entering the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining.

“Thank you to the University of Wisconsin, the coaches, and my teammates for an unforgettable 2 years. I’ll always cherish my time here,” Locke wrote, in part, when announcing his decision.

You can read his transfer announcement below, and let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.

Locke finished his career in Madison with 18 passing touchdowns, 11 interceptions, 2,713 passing yards, two rushing touchdowns and he completed 53.6% of his passes.

That’s simply not good enough to win at a high level in the Big Ten. He had a brutally bad stretch this season that was painful to watch.

In the 0-3 run against Penn State, Iowa and Oregon, Locke threw just two touchdowns to four interceptions.

He threw for just 450 yards during that three game stretch. That includes a pathetic 12/28 performance for 96 yards against Oregon.

There’s simply no excuse for that kind of QB play, and it tanked Wisconsin’s offense this season. Now, Locke is out the door and that means there are three options for the 2025 season:

Mettauer will be a redshirt freshman and Smith will enter 2025 as a true freshman. That makes me think Luke Fickell is absolutely going to look for an outside option.

His seat is growing hotter, and he can’t risk a young QB not being ready. Having said that, this one year rental strategy isn’t sustainable long term. Mettauer and Smith need to be ready as quickly as possible just in order to establish some stability.

Wisconsin QB Braedyn Locke is leaving the team and entering the transfer portal. (Photo by Robin Alam/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

It’s going to be fascinating to see how the QB battle unfolds in the spring, and something tells me it will include a name we don’t currently know. Let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.