A Court Ruling Could Put Undrafted NFL Players Back on College Football Rosters

A judge in Denver just changed the trajectory for every college football roster in the country, and the timing could not be worse for the people who build them.

On Friday night, U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney granted a class-wide preliminary injunction that forces the NCAA to declare eligible every high school class of 2022 athlete who finished four seasons of college play this past spring.

That covers everyone who began their college careers in the 2022-2023 school year and ran out of eligibility under the old rules by the end of the 2025-2026 season. This isn't a short list of players; it's all of them.

What judge Charlotte Sweeney actually ruled

The ruling strikes at the NCAA's new five-year eligibility model, the so-called "5-for-5" rule the association approved in June. That rule gives athletes five seasons over a five-year window, but it was set to start with players enrolling in fall 2027. The class of 2022 got left out. They played four years, thought they were done and watched younger and older classes get an extra year they did not.

The NCAA argued that letting these players back in would create roster chaos across the sport. Sweeney rejected that idea directly.

"They will suffer irreparable harm without issuance of an injunction," Sweeney wrote in her decision. "And the balance of equities, as well as the public interest, favor them. They are entitled to the injunctive relief they seek." Fox News

Why college football front offices are worried

Here is where football gets messy. Coaches built their rosters this offseason assuming the class of 2022 was gone. They filled their spots. They spent their revenue-sharing and NIL money months ago. Now, a whole class of experienced players could come back, and camp opens next week.

The scariest part for front offices is not the players who never left. It is the ones already in the pros. The ruling opens the door for an undrafted player sitting in an NFL training camp to walk away and head back to college for a fifth year. Front offices have already told reporters they are worried about exactly that.

The Cole Hutson case shows what is coming

Former Texas offensive lineman Cole Hutson already did it. Hutson played four years for the Longhorns, appeared in 48 games with 23 starts, then went undrafted in April. He got rookie minicamp invites from the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns but never signed a deal.

Former Texas Longhorns offensive lineman Cole Hutson (54) in action during the game against the Clemson Tigers in the CFP National Playoff First Round. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

So he sued the NCAA in Travis County, home of the University of Texas, and a judge granted him a temporary restraining order allowing him to resume college football while his case plays out.

Hutson is the first case of its kind, a player who tried the NFL, came up short and used the courts to come back to campus. Sweeney's class-wide ruling now gives that path to a much larger group. If the injunction holds, nothing stops other undrafted free agents from doing the same thing.

No easy answers for NCAA

NCAA president Charlie Baker responded the way he has all summer, by pushing Congress to pass the Protect College Sports Act, a bill that would give the association antitrust protection on eligibility questions.

"Today's rulings and the chaos they bring to college sports are exactly why it's time to pass this bill," Baker said.

The problem for Baker is that Congress is not moving fast enough to help him. The U.S. Senate adjourned Thursday without scheduling a vote on the bill. The Big Ten and SEC, home to schools in 26 states, spent the week holding out and only agreed to support a reworked version Friday night, the same night Sweeney handed down her ruling.

NCAA President Charlie Baker speaks with the Indianapolis Star after taking over his new job. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Even with that late support, the bill faces a narrow window before the August recess and may not pass at all this year.

That leaves the NCAA fighting these cases one courtroom at a time. It has already lost in Ohio, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas and now Colorado, where the class-wide certification made this loss far bigger than the others.

The NCAA is expected to appeal Sweeney's ruling to the Tenth Circuit quickly, and until that appeal is resolved, coaches have to decide whether to gamble a scholarship on a player who could be ruled ineligible again mid-season. Every program will answer that question differently over the next few days, with fall camp already underway and no clear rulebook to follow.

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