Brendan Sorsby was on track to take part in the supplemental draft as his technique of entering the NFL in 2026. That won’t be going down, nonetheless.
The NFL announced on Tuesday that the supplemental draft won’t be held in 2026. Because of this, Sorsby won’t give you the chance to show pro this summer. The embattled Texas Tech quarterback will as an alternative be eligible for the standard NFL draft in April 2027.
A letter addressed to Sorsby from the NFL’s management council (h/t NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport) details the league’s reasoning for this decision. It reads partially:
“Under our Collective Bargaining Agreement, the League retains sole discretion to find out whether it is acceptable to conduct a Supplemental Draft in any given yr. The League has not conducted such a draft for several years and, prior to your submission, the League had no plans to achieve this this yr, as no other player has sought entry… The problems presented by your Petition are too significant, and too closely tied to the League’s core integrity interests, to allow meaningful review throughout the timeline presented.
“… even after receiving notice of the NCAA’s decision rescinding your college eligibility in May, you sought to avoid the implications of that determination through litigation slightly than accepting responsibility to your actions, and also you pursued entry into the NFL only after abandoning those efforts.”
Sorsby hung out this spring in a rehab facility for treatment of a gambling addiction. That has been followed by a lengthy, controversy-filled saga over his NCAA eligibility. Attempts to be granted eligibility for 2026 fell short at first, with the NCAA denying him reinstatement, although a surprise injunction against the NCAA appeared to put Sorsby heading in the right direction to play for the Red Raiders this fall. Sorsby’s attorneys later dropped their suit against the NCAA with attention turning to entry into the NFL, although today’s news implies that won’t be possible.
The NFL cancelling its supplemental draft has change into an annual trend; the league last held this event in 2023. Nobody has been chosen in that midsummer draft for the reason that Cardinals selected safety Jalen Thompson in 2019. But Sorsby was poised to revive the event. As an alternative, he’ll reside in limbo in consequence of the league’s decision Tuesday.
In an email (via ESPN.com’s Pete Thamel), Jeffery Kessler indicated a view that the NFL’s decision “is a violation of the CBA and the law. We’ll pursue this immediately with the NFLPA.” Sorsby, after all, shouldn’t be a member of the NFLPA. But Kessler drove the trouble that momentarily reopened the door for the embattled quarterback to play college football in 2026. An injunction granted by a Lubbock, Texas, judge shocked the football world and had Sorsby heading in the right direction to improbably make his Texas Tech debut. This sparked tremendous backlash against the Red Raiders, however the Big 12 program as an alternative ended up urging the QB to declare for the supplemental draft slightly than accept a two-game suspension and play in 2026.
This profiles as a line within the sand of sorts by the league. The NFL has allowed quite a few other players with NCAA eligibility issues prior to now entry into the league via the supplemental draft, which is in place for prospects whose statuses at the faculty level have modified after a season.
The varied issues that derailed those players’ college paths didn’t involve gambling, and after the league has seen betting issues change into an issue involving a handful of cases in recent times — with full-season and six-game suspensions going down (Jameson Williams and Isaiah Rodgers have been amongst those banned) — it would not try to expedite Sorsby’s complicated journey.
The NFL has, after all, embraced partnerships with gambling firms; those have helped create annual salary cap spikes over the course of the 2020 CBA. Sorsby’s camp surely could make such an argument, but because it stands, the two-time transfer is stuck for 2026.
The previous Indiana and Cincinnati quarterback admitted to creating hundreds of bets on college and pro sports; those totaled upwards of $90K and included 40 wagers on Indiana while he was on the Hoosiers’ roster. This led to treatment for gambling addiction, which Sorsby accomplished. Most expected the supplemental draft to be his endgame, and after the Big 12 executed a federal court filing in a response to the injunction, the QB’s camp withdrew his lawsuit and ready for the NFL.
Sorsby had until June 22 to file paperwork for the supplemental draft, and while it was viewed as likely that might be his gateway into the professional game, the bizarre nature of the QB’s infractions created a murky situation. Many of the NFL had accelerated research into Sorsby as a prospect, as his agent indicated 26 teams contacted him concerning the former Hoosiers and Bearcats starter. A professional day was scheduled for July 10. Sorsby’s agent, Joey Slavin, also said he was not expecting his client to be suspended upon NFL entry.
Today’s supplemental draft news could possibly be interpreted as a de facto suspension, and a source informed Thamel and ESPN colleague Adam Schefter the league’s response to Sorsby’s Eleventh-hour supplemental draft declaration represents “an avoidance of that distraction (to groups) attributable to his own timing.” The league’s letter encouraged Sorsby to give attention to the 2027 draft; by that time, the NFL can have had more time to look at the quantity of his gambling infractions.
Potential litigation from Sorsby against the NFL could happen, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio offers, as no language within the CBA pertains to investigations or accountability regarding the supplemental draft. If/until that commences, the league is punting on the Sorsby matter.
It would be interesting to see if Sorsby tries to resume his legal battle against the NCAA and complete an ungainly audition season ahead of the 2027 draft. The NCAA had appealed the Lubbock judge’s injunction before Sorsby withdrew his suit.
Teams exploring this case, in the intervening time at the least, won’t have a possible first-round talent to bid on. Had Sorsby been permitted supplemental draft entry, the prospect of a team giving up a 2027 second-round pick to accumulate him this July was viewed as likely. Now, the NFL is about to force Sorsby — potentially after a yr out of football — to vie with the likes of Arch Manning, Dante Moore and others (should these two be a part of that class, which is widely expected to present higher options in comparison with this yr’s prospect pool) as a part of the ’27 draft. More will certainly emerge on this front, but for now, the league has acted as regards to Sorsby’s 2026 standing.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.