By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Georgia’s pass rush clearly struggled for most of this season. Georgia has the fewest sacks in the SEC in 2025, with 17 total.

The Bulldog’s defense improved as the season went on, including the pass rush. Georgia (12-1) is safely in the College Football Playoff.

Georgia’s athletic department announced they are seeking $390,000 from former defensive end Damon Wilson II, claiming his transfer to Missouri terminated his existing name, image and likeness agreement with the Bulldogs’ collective. Wilson had nine sacks for Missouri and tied for third most in the SEC.

The Bulldogs already lost their best pass rushers, Mykel Williams and Jalon Walker to the NFL Draft. That was expected, but Damon Wilson II was penciled in for a bigger role after notching three sacks last season, the most of any returning Georgia player.

Georgia’s push for damages may hinge as much on the timing of Wilson’s departure. While nine other Georgia players entered the transfer portal between the end of the regular season and the Sugar Bowl in January, Wilson stayed with the team through the bowl game.

The team expected Wilson to be a key contributor, if not a starter, but then he entered the portal Jan. 7. That made it too late in the process to find an adequate replacement, according to the team.

The dispute is spelled out in an application to compel arbitration filed by the University of Georgia Athletic Association in October.

According to a contract attached to the court filing, Georgia’s Classic City Collective agreed to pay Wilson $30,000 per month from December 2024 through January 2026. That’s $420,000 total, not including $40,000 bonus payments in February and June.

Wilson received his first payment and entered the transfer portal weeks later. According to the filing, the contract allowed the UGA collective to terminate the deal if Wilson unenrolled, left the team, or entered the portal.

The deal also spells out liquidated damages if it’s terminated. Wilson would owe whatever’s remaining on the contract in a lump-sum payment. A termination letter sent by the collective said the $390,000 payment could come from Wilson or another individual/entity on his behalf (presumably, the collective of another school).

“When the University of Georgia Athletic Association enters binding agreements with student-athletes we honor our commitments and expect student-athletes to do the same,” Georgia athletics spokesperson Steven Drummond said in a statement.

Because the collective assigned its deals to Georgia’s athletic department in July, the Bulldogs have taken the issue to court to demand arbitration.

Authorities in Missouri served Wilson with the legal summons Nov. 24. Wilson does not currently have an attorney listed in the court system.

This case is and will be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to lawsuits being filed against players with substantial NIL deals who enter the transfer portal.