according to the article (you never know if a sportswriter correctly characterizes the disposition of a legal case), Duke is suing Darian Mensah to keep him from abandoning his two year NIL agreement.
First, the article says it's a two year deal, let's assume that's correct. I've long been advocating that NIL deals be for two years. This is the first case time I've read about an actual two year deal. If this is the beginning of a trend, I am all for it.
Second, the article says the NIL agreement doesn't have a buyout clause (liquidated damages clause). Stupid not to include one. Why? Now, Duke is in the position of having to force the guy to stay. The judge may say that injunctive relief (forcing him to stay) is to severe in this case and that damages are not certain/susceptible to calculation. If that's the case, he walks. It's my recollection from law school a million years ago, that the plaintiff must prove damages with some level of certainty. How do you prove how much you're damaged by a QB leaving? Seems crazy to me not to have included a buyout clause. A buyout clause takes away that problem.
I wonder whether Duke really wants to force the kid to stay. Maybe this is a procedural step they are taking toward making their case. But, to me, alleging "irreperable harm" (which you have to do to get injunctive relief, aka, to make him stay), kind of sounds like damages can't be calculated. In other words, it feels like by suing to make him stay, they are increasing the risk they won't get anything if he walks.
And, as was discussed wrt the QB from Washington, if he stays, what are you getting? Like the QB from Washington, you may be paying to have a locker room cancer on your team. It's up to the kid - everything makes sense for him to get back to work and be a good teammate. If anything, it's even more in his interest to be an outstanding leader, now that he's attempted to breach a contract. But, who knows if the kid will see it that way.
I'm confident that Duke has better, smarter, more sophisticated lawyers than I could ever pretend to be. So, we'll see what happens.
Last add: since it appears that two-year contracts are now a thing, they pay schedule should be back loaded toward the end of the season. You sit out a bowl game, you don't get your last (biggest) paycheck of the season.