The transfer portal era and pursuit of NIL money are messy. Are there solutions?

A quarterback reportedly reneging on a lucrative deal to hit the transfer portal, only to return to his original school. Another starting QB, this one in the College Football Playoff, awaiting approval from the NCAA to play next season, an expensive NIL deal apparently hanging in the balance. A defensive star, sued by his former school after transferring, filing a lawsuit of his own.

It is easy to see why many observers say things are a mess in college football even amid a highly compelling postseason.

''It gets crazier and crazier. It really, really does,'' said Sam Ehrlich, a Boise State legal studies professor who tracks litigation against the NCAA. He said he might have to add a new section for litigation against the NCAA stemming just from transfer portal issues.

''I think a guy signing a contract and then immediately deciding he wants to go to another school, that's a kind of a new thing,'' he said. ''Not new kind of historically when you think about all the contract jumping that was going on in the '60s and '70s with the NBA. But it's a new thing for college sports, that's for sure.''

Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. said late Thursday he will return to school for the 2026 season rather than enter the transfer portal, avoiding a potentially messy dispute amid reports the Huskies were prepared to pursue legal options to enforce Williams' name, image and likeness contract.

Edge rusher Damon Wilson is looking to transfer after one season at Missouri, having been sued for damages by Georgia over his decision to leave the Bulldogs. He has countersued.

Then there is Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who reportedly had a new NIL deal waiting while he asked the NCAA for approval to play another season after leading the Rebels to Thursday night's Collge Football Playoff semifinal against Miami. The NCAA a day after Miami's win denied his request.

What to do?

Court rulings have favored athletes of late, winning them not just millions in compensation but the ability to play immediately after transferring rather than have to sit out a year as once was the case. They can also discuss specific NIL compensation with schools and boosters before enrolling. Current court battles include players seeking to play longer, without lower-college seasons counting against their eligibility, and earning NIL money while doing it.

Ehrlich compared the situation to the labor upheaval professional leagues went through before finally settling on collective bargaining, which has been looked at as a potential solution by some in college sports over the past year. Athletes.org, a players association for college athletes, recently offered a 38-page proposal of what a labor deal could look like.

''I think NCAA is concerned, and rightfully so, that anything they try to do to tamp down this on their end is going to get shut down,'' Ehrlich said. ''Which is why really the only two solutions at this point are an act of Congress, which feels like an act of God at this point, or potentially collective bargaining, which has its own major, major challenges and roadblocks.''

The NCAA has been lobbying for years for limited antitrust protection to keep some kind of control over the new landscape — and to avoid more crippling lawsuits — but bills have gone nowhere in Congress.

Ehrlich noted the short careers for college athletes and wondered whether a union for collective bargaining is even possible.

A harder look at contracts

To sports attorney Mit Winter, employment contracts may be the simplest solution.

''This isn't something that's novel to college sports,'' said Winter, a former college basketball player who is now a sports attorney with Kennyhertz Perry. ''Employment contracts are a huge part of college sports, it's just novel for the athletes.''

Employment contracts for players could be written like those for coaches, he suggested, which would offer buyouts and prevent players from using the portal as a revolving door.

There are challenges here, too, of course: Should all college athletes be treated as employees or just those in revenue-producing sports? Can all injured athletes seek workers' compensation and insurance protection? Could states start taxing athlete NIL earnings?

Winter noted a pending federal case against the NCAA could allow for athletes to be treated as employees more than they currently are.

''What's going on in college athletics now is trying to create this new novel system where the athletes are basically treated like employees, look like employees, but we don't want to call them employees,'' Winter said. ''We want to call them something else and say they're not being paid for athletic services. They're being paid for use of their NIL. So, then it creates new legal issues that have to be hashed out and addressed, which results in a bumpy and chaotic system when you're trying to kind of create it from scratch.''

Employment contracts would not necessarily allow for uniform rules with an athlete able to go to transfer when terms have been met. Collective bargaining could include those guidelines.

''If the goal is to keep someone at a school for a certain defined period of time, it's got to be employment contracts,'' Winter said.