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As NIL continues to expand and shape the college sports landscape, an unofficial record may have recently been surpassed.
After a standout redshirt freshman season at Tulane, quarterback Darian Mensah was among the top players at his position to enter the transfer portal in December. But his decision to then join the Duke Blue Devils reportedly involved a historic amount of NIL cash.
Money undoubtedly plays a significant role in the transfer portal now, as top "free agent" players can garner millions of dollars in the selection of their next school. Although NIL money amounts are almost always unofficial, being obtained through reporting, Mensah may now be college football's highest-paid player.
Here's what to know about his reported new deal at Duke, as well as how it compares to some of the other reported highest-paid players in the sport.
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Darian Mensah NIL money, explained
Mensah racked up 2,723 passing yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions through the air with Tulane in 2024, leading the Green Wave to a 9-5 record.
With three years of eligibility remaining, Mensah became 247Sports' seventh-ranked quarterback in the transfer portal. He then committed to Duke, which also lost its starting quarterback, Maalik Murphy, to the transfer portal.
But according to CBS Sports' John Talty and Chris Hummer, Mensah received an NIL deal from Duke "believed" to be worth $8 million over two years. While there are no official numbers on NIL contracts, that $4 million average annual value would be (at least unofficially) the highest mark in college football history.
The CBS Sports report also explains how money has been flowing into the sport recently, as school collectives can "raise money and spend with almost no oversight" for the time being, while schools will also soon earn more money from the House settlement.
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Is Darian Mensah the highest-paid player in college football?
There's no official way of comparing Mensah's reported NIL money to others in college football, but based on deals that have been reported, it does stand unofficially as the record for a college football player.
The CBS Sports report does note that Washington State quarterback transfer John Mateer, one of the top passers in the transfer portal, is also believed to have gotten a "similar" deal to Mensah's when he transferred to Oklahoma. Talty and Hummer wrote that around a year ago, top quarterbacks commanded around $1.5 million in the transfer portal, the mark that Penn State transfer QB Beau Pribula is reportedly earning from Missouri.
Bryce Underwood, one of the top quarterbacks of the 2025 class, reportedly will earn around $10 million over four years after flipping his commitment to Michigan recently, but the AAV would rank below Mensah's.
Mensah's deal does trail the reported $5 million over one year that college basketball prospect AJ Dybantsa reportedly got from BYU.
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