Settlement paves way for QB Darian Mensah to chase national title at Miami

In its own statement, Duke wrote, "We are committed to fulfilling all promises and obligations Duke makes to our student athletes when we enter into contractual agreements.

"It is nonetheless a difficult choice to pursue legal action against a student and teammate; for this reason we sought to resolve the matter fairly and quickly."

Duke was wise to take the high road instead of dragging things through the muck and tainting the entire offseason. While it would have been preferable to convince Mensah to stay, once that became fantasy, a clean break was the only path forward.

While the move will probably cost the Blue Devils a shot of repeating as ACC champs — and securing an automatic College Football Playoff berth — it will also put Mensah under a microscope in 2026.

He's one of the country's best returning quarterbacks and will be expected to keep Miami among the top teams in FBS. Last season, Mensah was 334-of-500 (66.8 percent) for 3,973 yards, 34 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Per On3's Pete Nakos, he was already the highest-paid quarterback while at Duke a season ago, earning $4M. He'll make even more with the Hurricanes, who are going all-in after coming up short of their first national title since the 2001 season.

Considering the success of Miami's past two quarterbacks, Mensah could enter himself into the conversation for the No. 1 pick of the 2027 NFL Draft with a big junior season. He had several million reasons to enter the portal, but the cost should he not live up to expectations will be just as significant.