NFL Makes Decision on Brendan Sorsby's Supplemental Draft Status Ahead of 2026 Season

It doesn't look like Brendan Sorsby is going to be playing football anywhere in 2026. Multiple reports surfaced on Tuesday that the NFL will not be holding a supplemental draft this summer, leaving zero path for Sorsby to enter the league ahead of the 2026 season.

He has already been deemed ineligible by the NCAA for betting on NCAA championship-sanctioned events thousands of times this decade.

The NFL sent a letter to Sorsby, which reads below:

We are in receipt of your Petition for Special Eligibility, dated June 16, 2026 (“Petition”). As announced earlier today, the League has elected not to conduct a Supplemental Draft this year.

Under our Collective Bargaining Agreement, the League retains sole discretion to determine whether it is appropriate to conduct a Supplemental Draft in any given year. The League has not conducted such a draft for several years, and, before your submission, the League had no plans to do so this year, as no other player has sought entry. Your Petition—filed three business days before the deadline, without any supporting information or documentation, and only after abandoning your recent litigation efforts to avoid NCAA sanctions—does not provide a basis for the League to alter those plans. The issues presented by your Petition are too significant and too closely tied to the League’s core integrity interests to permit meaningful review within the timeline presented.

The sole reasons identified in your Petition for seeking entry into the Supplemental Draft are that you have been “declared ineligible” by the NCAA, have “exhausted all of [your] avenues to continue in the NCAA,” and “want to now play in the NFL.” The Petition provides no information regarding the basis for, or timing of, the NCAA’s decision. Public sources, however, indicate that in May 2026, the NCAA issued a determination declaring you permanently ineligible from participation in college athletics, based on a sustained pattern of improper gambling activity during your collegiate career at three different universities.

The League does not have the complete record of the NCAA’s investigation, and you did not provide any such materials with your Petition. Available information nonetheless indicates that, over the course of your collegiate career, you knowingly engaged in repeated and significant violations of NCAA rules designed to preserve the integrity of athletic competition. Reported conduct includes placing wagers on your own team and teammates and, to avoid detection, establishing or funding accounts in the names of intermediaries who placed bets on your behalf. There are also reports that you may have violated state criminal law.

Your Petition does not address these matters. Nor does it demonstrate accountability for your conduct or indicate whether, or how, you would adhere to the League’s rules and policies governing the integrity of competition. Instead, even after receiving notice of the NCAA’s decision to rescind your college eligibility in May, you sought to avoid the consequences of that determination through litigation rather than accepting responsibility for your actions, and you pursued entry into the NFL only after abandoning those efforts.

As Commissioner Goodell has emphasized, participation in the NFL is a privilege that carries with it significant responsibilities, including accountability. By all accounts, you are a talented player with the potential for future success. We encourage you to focus on preparing for possible entry into the NFL through the 2027 NFL Annual Draft.

Sincerely,

Lawrence P. Ferazani, Jr.

Sorsby's camp seemingly felt convinced they'd be able to continue his career right away despite all of the confirmed gambling infractions, but that's not the case. His Pro Day next month now seems likely to get cancelled.

He is essentially serving a one-year suspension from all football activities after arguably his most egregious offense of all the bets: Betting on games his own team was involved in while being on scholarship at Indiana.

The NFL has a similar zero-tolerance gambling policy to the NCAA, and Sorsby is feeling the full brunt of that right now.

There will be no new Cincinnati-built quarterbacks in the league this fall, but Sorsby is eligible to apply for the 2027 NFL Draft. The gray areas and lack of time to color them in from this investigation led to this decision from the NFL.

Sorsby played the past two seasons at Cincinnati, starring as arguably a top 10 quarterback in the country before transferring to Texas Tech this past winter.

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