A few years ago he plays out his college years with a schollie and gets a job somewhere. Now he's made 14 million plus whatever he got his first two years.

They give him $500.00 and tell him it’s $5mil.

Than pros

collectively bargain it will. That's the only way this is sustainable and both schools and players understand that long-term. Once "contracts" become voided with injuries and the continued wild west of the portal (like Mensah) will drive both to want some level of protection..

and even then, it's not guaranteed. A salary cap is per se illegal under antitrust law unless: -athletes are legally recognized as employees AND -athletes unionize AND -the union agrees to a collectively bargained cap Without all three, a salary cap is just horizontal collusion—the exact thing the NCAA keeps losing in court. Also, schools fear employee status because it triggers: workers’ comp unemployment insurance payroll taxes FLSA wage/hour rules Title IX compensation parity - HUGE liability for workplace injuries - HUGE bargaining obligations grievance procedures arbitration wrongful termination claims - HUGE Schools want cost control, not employment law. Employee status gives them one and saddles them with the other. Also, the NFL/NBA model only works because the entire league bargains as one unit. College sports are structurally incapable of that. Even if athletes unionize, the bargaining unit would likely be: football-only, or school-by-school, or conference-by-conference If bargaining becomes fragmented, salary caps become inconsistent, unenforceable, legally vulnerable and strategically pointless.

Playing brands. That cut across the largest alumni bases and states in the US.

Signing your qb for a 2 year, 8 million deal and then having scUM swoop in and take him away sends duke back to the gutter of the ACC. It’s anarchy and the rich get richer until someone steps in and stops this mess

However I think Duke is gonna sue instead of take the money and terminate the NIL contract. Any lawyers in here to explain this mess? ** Edited by CvilleHokie04 at 1/16/2026, 7:53:08 PM

... take the money. In this case, however, with their QB1 bailing (or at least trying to bail) at the last second, leaving Duke with no viable plan to replace their top shelf QB1, they just may go yo court, and they need to go all the way with it. Would be good to have at lease one settled case to provide some small sense of precedence.

held in NC. High probability of Duke winning. Maybe that will slow down some of the Wild West NIL crap that is going on.

Looks like this may be going the same route of the player from Washington. Hope Miami gets screwed on this one.

** Edited by ancient alien 2018 at 1/16/2026, 8:06:28 PM

These florida teams dont have good luck with courts in North carolina.