What’s better than Amazon’s Verizon Samsung Galaxy Nexus for a penny deal? Best Buy’s Verizon Galaxy Nexus for free deal! That’s right, the retail chain that constantly calls the Galaxy Nexus the Nexus Prime, is now offering Google’s latest Nexus smartphone for nothing more than your signature on a new 2-year contract (upgrades appear eligible as well).

The Galaxy Nexus was a breakthrough device for Google. Not only did it bring us Ice Cream Sandwich, but it started the movement to unify the look and feel of Android across multiple devices. Its Holo theme, on-screen software buttons, and multi-carrier release brought life back into the Nexus brand. Now the carrier who first brought the U.S. the Galaxy Nexus, and most likely screwed up any possibility of ever getting a Nexus device again, has dropped the online price to just under $100.

The ongoing patent drama has caused minor speed bumps for mobile manufacturers and while the Galaxy Nexus saw a brief disappearance from the Google Play Store, it’s back in stock and available for purchase. For $349 you can pick yourself up a brand new contract free Galaxy Nexus. Since it’s the GSM/HSPA+ model, you’ll also be the first to own a Jelly Bean phone as Android 4.1 is being pushed out to the HSPA+ model during the next couple weeks.

Google recently dropped quite the candy bomb on HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus owners. It appears that Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) has already begun rolling out and will continue to hit HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus devices over the next week. Great news for everyone, better news for HSPA+ GNEX owners.

It’s safe to say that Jelly Bean is now officially out of the bag, and we have the official Google Play Store to thank. Earlier in the day, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus listing included a description that outed Android 4.1 and also revealed that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus would be the first phone to get the tasty treat.