BREAKING: NFL Not Holding Supplemental Draft This Year

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the NFL is declining to hold a supplemental draft this summer, making the 2027 draft the only way for Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby to enter the NFL.

The following is the letter from the NFL’s Management Council to Sorsby, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport:

“Dear Mr. Sorsby:  

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, prior to 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 rescinding 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.”

Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Sorsby’s attorney, Jeffery Kessler, issued the following statement:

“It is a violation of the CBA and the law. We will pursue this immediately with the NFLPA.”

Sorsby bet on college football games while he was at Indiana, including games involving the Hoosiers, and the NCAA has a zero-tolerance policy for athletes gambling on their own sports.

This led to the NCAA denying his appeal for eligibility, which then led Sorsby to apply for the NFL’s supplemental draft.

Sorsby, 22, was a three-star recruit and the 101st-ranked quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class out of Lake Dallas, Texas. 

He committed to Indiana and stayed there two seasons before transferring to Cincinnati for the 2024 season. He remained there through this past season before transferring to Texas Tech. 

In his collegiate career, Sorsby has appeared in 35 games over four years at Indiana and Cincinnati. He’s completed 61.4 percent of passes for 7,208 yards, 60 touchdowns, and 18 interceptions. He’s also rushed for 1,295 yards and 22 touchdowns. 

We’ll have more on Sorsby as the news is available.