Former Auburn Tigers QB Leaves CFL Team, Put on Suspended List

The professional career of former Auburn Tigers quarterback Payton Thorne seems to have turned over a new leaf, as on Thursday, the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers announced that Thorne had been put on the team’s suspended list after choosing to leave the team.

“He’s a great kid,” said Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. “He’s really smart. I’m sure he’s got a future in football still, it’s just this is what he had to do.”

We have transferred American quarterback Payton Thorne to the suspended list. #ForTheW | @canadalifeco pic.twitter.com/x1xRSJxnht
— Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) May 21, 2026

Thorne was a three-star prospect when he initially signed with Michigan State in 2019, where he spent three years before transferring to Auburn to play for an additional two years. With the Spartans, Thorne threw for 6,501 yards, 49 touchdowns and 24 interceptions.

With the Tigers, Thorne started for two years under head coach Hugh Freeze, where he passed for 4,468 yards, 37 touchdowns and 19 interceptions over the course of two seasons that have largely been deemed as failures for the Tigers.

Thorne’s image at Auburn is largely marred by the several interceptions he struggled with, particularly in key moments. However, he was a piece of the team that last caused the Auburn faithful to storm the field, in a 43-41 four-overtime thriller against the Texas A&M Aggies in 2024.

After college, Thorne went undrafted and was picked up by the Cincinnati Bengals, where he never logged a snap before making the decision to move to the CFL. Now, he has no affiliation, but O’Shea seems confident that Thorne has something in store.

“I also am genuinely excited if somebody has things figured out enough that this is the decision they make because it’s not an easy decision,” he said. “And there are guys I disagree with when I say, ‘I don’t think you’re doing the right thing.’ But they’re all individual conversations. You can’t lump them all in together.”

Thorne has had quite a unique career to say the least, but he has shown flashes of top-level play that professional teams could develop into something special, provided he is able to find another team. Though Thorne never played a snap for the Blue Bombers, his head coach is confident that this is not the end of the road for the 24-year-old.

“I don’t think he’s done with football yet,” O’Shea said.

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