Should Vikings Bid on Brendan Sorsby in NFL's Supplemental Draft?

The rarely-used supplemental draft is back in a big way this summer, with a controversial quarterback set to enter the league.

Brendan Sorsby looks to throw during the Texas Tech football team's spring game, Friday, April 17, 2026, at Jones AT&T Stadium. | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Brendan Sorsby is headed to the NFL, after all. The former Indiana and Cincinnati quarterback, who admitted to betting on college sports and placing bets on the Hoosiers while he was a freshman there in 2022, was initially ruled ineligible by the NCAA before an injunction put him on track to play for Texas Tech this fall. That sparked massive blowback, and Sorsby has now reversed course by deciding to move on from college football and apply for the NFL's supplemental draft.

The supplemental draft is a seldom-used mechanism that allows college players who did not enter the standard spring draft to join the league. A player hasn't been selected in one since the Cardinals took safety Jalen Thompson in 2019. The most notable player ever taken in a supplemental draft was future Hall of Famer wide receiver Cris Carter in 1987.

How it works

The supplemental draft functions like a silent auction. Assuming the NFL approves his application, every team will have a chance to bid a standard 2027 draft pick to select Sorsby. Whoevers bids a pick in the highest round will get him. If multiple teams submit the same bid, he'll go to the team in the highest of three tiers. Tier 1 is teams with six or fewer wins the prior season, Tier 2 is all other non-playoff teams, and Tier 3 is playoff teams. If multiple teams from the same tier submit the same bid, a weighted lottery will determine the tiebreaker.

Should Vikings submit a bid?

There are a solid handful of teams that could be logical landing spots for Sorsby, who threw 27 touchdowns and 5 interceptions last year at Cincinnati while also running for 9 scores. Could the Vikings be one of them? ESPN's Mike Tannenbaum mentioned Minnesota as a team that could make sense for Sorsby on Tuesday morning.

The Vikings have a pretty full quarterback room at the moment, but it's worth noting that Kyler Murray is on a one-year deal, J.J. McCarthy is coming off a disastrous debut season, and Carson Wentz is merely a quality depth option. Sorsby, a 6'3" QB with a big arm, would've been an early pick in either the 2026 or 2027 standard draft. He's not a can't-miss prospect, but at least he has a chance to become a good NFL starter.

Ultimately, I think it's unlikely that the Vikings end up landing Sorsby. They've got enough going on right now with their Murray-McCarthy quarterback competition, and Sorsby comes with some off-the-field baggage. It may be worth submitting a late-round bid just to see what happens, but it seems likely that a team with a greater need at QB submits a second or third-round pick to land him. I don't think it makes much sense for the Vikings to do that.