The ongoing legal war between the NCAA and athletes pursuing a fifth year of eligibility arrived at a historic milestone on Sunday: An NFL player was waived so he could go back to college.
After suiting up with the Cleveland Browns for their preseason game Saturday, tight end Dae’Quan Wright is hoping he’ll soon be able to return to the SEC and start practicing with LSU.
Wright is one of a growing number of former FBS players who started their careers in the 2022-23 academic year and are seriously exploring a return to college football after going undrafted this spring. They’re chasing a fifth year they believe they’re owed by the NCAA, right before college athletics implemented new age-based eligibility rules.
Buckle up, because more lawsuits in state courts now seem inevitable. The NFL roster cutdown deadline is Sunday, so this is sure to become a popular topic among rookies and their agents over the next week as they watch how Wright’s situation plays out and debate whether trying to go back to school makes sense.
Here’s what you need to know about this unprecedented eligibility battle.
Wait, so an NFL rookie can now go back to college?
Wright is attempting something we’ve never seen before. The Browns have waived him and, if he clears waivers, he has an agreement in place to return to the college ranks and play for LSU.
How in the world did we end up here? The answer is complicated. But Browns coach Todd Monken’s reaction during his Saturday postgame news conference summed up the situation nicely: “Man, ain’t this s--- crazy?”
Wright dressed for the Browns’ preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday but did not play. At the same time, he’s currently available in the NCAA transfer portal thanks to a temporary restraining order granted by a judge in Louisiana who gave him an opportunity to return to college for a fifth year of eligibility.
Wright was the fourth-leading receiver among all FBS tight ends last season at Ole Miss, with 39 receptions for 635 yards and five touchdowns, including a go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter of the Rebels’ College Football Playoff semifinal loss to Miami. Wright was invited to the NFL combine but was still recovering from a shoulder injury during the pre-draft process. He went undrafted in April, signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent and was claimed on waivers by the Browns on Aug. 11.
What gave Wright this unique opportunity is the fact that he began his college career in 2022 and played four college seasons before going pro. The NCAA changed its eligibility rules in June to allow athletes to play five seasons within a five-year timespan, but this reform did not grandfather in outgoing athletes like Wright from the 2022 class. Now the NCAA is facing a slew of lawsuits from athletes who were denied a chance to come back for their fifth year.
“This could be the first player to play in the NFL with an NFL team through the combine, through training camp and go play collegiately,” his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said on “The Pat McAfee Show” last week. “I think it’s likely to happen.”
Wright was one of more than a dozen former FBS players who officially entered the transfer portal last week, even though he’s not currently enrolled at Ole Miss. Now he’s looking to team up with Lane Kiffin, his coach with the Rebels, again in Baton Rouge.
“I wondered why Lane Kiffin reached out a week ago; now I know,” Monken said. “I didn’t call him back. I guess I should have.”
Why would Wright want to go back to college?
It’s easy to see why this arrangement would be appealing to Kiffin. This move would give LSU another proven playmaker for its Sam Leavitt-led passing attack that already features preseason All-America tight end Trey’Dez Green and a reloaded cast of wide receivers. Even if it takes Wright a little time to work his way back, he already knows this offense and should have a chance to make a real impact by the time the team gets into its SEC schedule.
Wright could easily make more money in one season at LSU than he would on an NFL practice squad, and the opportunity in Baton Rouge provides more certainty about the season ahead than he currently has as NFL roster cuts near.
One interesting question mark going forward is what going to LSU would mean for Wright’s chances of making it in the NFL in 2027. Rosenhaus has suggested Wright would be able to go back in the draft next spring. If that’s true, and he’s healthy and productive this season, could Wright get a second chance at being selected? Or is it possible NFL teams will hold this unprecedented camp-to-college decision against him?
There’s also the lingering matter of the SEC’s intraconference transfer rules. The conference only permits SEC players to transfer to other SEC schools during the portal window in January. How will that be applied in this situation? Commissioner Greg Sankey sent a memo to member schools earlier this month reminding them the league’s intraconference rule remains in effect.
Which players in NFL training camps are also in the transfer portal?
Defensive lineman Zxavian Harris is another one of Kiffin’s former players who is now available in the transfer portal. Harris, a 25-game starter at Ole Miss, was waived by the New Orleans Saints on Aug. 8.
Former SMU running back TJ Harden played in the Seattle Seahawks’ preseason opener but was cut last week. Harden rushed for 2,445 yards and scored 24 touchdowns over four seasons at SMU, and UCLA and is now exploring the option of selecting him from the portal.
There’s also a trio of rookies currently on NFL rosters who were granted a fifth year by the Louisiana suit: Seahawks running back Anthony Hankerson (from Oregon State), Arizona Cardinals safety Wydett Williams Jr. (Ole Miss) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers outside linebacker Jack Pyburn (LSU). These three have not put their names in the transfer portal yet.
Pyburn had two sacks for the Buccaneers in his preseason debut and told reporters Saturday he’s currently focused on trying to make the team.
If Wright and others do elect to play college football again after signing pro contracts this offseason, the Louisiana temporary restraining order states they would need to “terminate any such contract and repay any money they have received” before they can play in a college game.
Are there more notable players who’ve gained an extra year?
Several former players who gained a fifth year in the restraining order have already found new homes for the 2026 season. That includes former Notre Dame defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka, who committed to LSU on Friday.
Linebacker Trent Hendrick, the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year last season at James Madison, committed to UCLA on Sunday to play one more season under Bob Chesney and his coaching staff.
Thanks to the suit, South Carolina was able to land former App State cornerback Ethan Johnson and Minnesota added former New Mexico kicker Luke Drzewiecki. Offensive lineman Weylin Lapuaho, a 47-game starter at BYU who had a tryout with the Dolphins earlier this month, is in the portal and should draw major interest as well.
Former Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos is also in the transfer portal after a Kentucky judge granted his TRO on Friday. Castellanos went undrafted and had a tryout with the Dolphins as a wide receiver in May. Texas Tech is expected to be a contender for the 32-game starter as it seeks a more proven backup behind new starter Will Hammond.
Are more players expected to file lawsuits?
The NCAA got an important win Friday when the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the NCAA a stay in an order that reversed the Colorado federal judge’s decision to open the door for all athletes in the class of 2022 to return for a fifth season. But that development is likely to prompt many more lawsuits in state courts over the next few weeks.
The federal suit brought by Northern Colorado basketball player Brock Wisne, arguing the NCAA is violating antitrust law by preventing him from playing a fifth season, was a class action case applying to all athletes who had just completed four seasons in four years.
“The Tenth Circuit’s decision to stay the preliminary injunction issued by a Colorado federal district court judge in Wisne permits Division I to return to the status quo before the district court intervened,” NCAA chief legal officer Scott Bearby wrote on Friday. “Effective immediately, the age-based eligibility rules will be implemented as the Division I membership intended.”
Defending national champion Indiana was set to bring back defensive linemen Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt and was one of several FBS programs that had begun reintegrating fifth-year players back into their programs this month after the Wisne decision.
The stay means those players are once again ineligible and would need to file their own lawsuits if they’re hoping to move forward with trying to play one more college season.
How can college teams add players this late?
It’s not easy, and that’s one reason many programs have been hesitant to go as far as Kiffin and LSU have in pursuing these former college players.
College football programs now have a 105-man roster limit and are expected to abide by a revenue-sharing cap, though the sport’s top contenders continue to find ways to fund their rosters far beyond the cap. These college front offices had only one offseason transfer portal window, a two-week period in January, to load up for the 2026 season. They’ve already invested significant money in their expected starters and have spent eight months developing and training their squad.
Even if they did have undrafted players who didn’t make it past minicamps or who already got cut earlier this month, do they actually want them back? Can they get reenrolled in school? Are these players in good enough shape to play a few weeks from now?
The NCAA getting its request for a stay granted on Friday raised another real concern hanging over this situation throughout August: What if teams do bring players back and they’re ultimately deemed ineligible?
When asked on Friday whether it was possible for Tuihalamaka to return to Notre Dame, coach Marcus Freeman said it was too late to do so due to the school’s graduate admissions process.
“I don’t think it would put a person in a good situation this late -- you know, school starts on Monday -- to have success in the classroom and on the field,” Freeman said. “That’s kind of been our stance with it.”
What are coaches saying?
Oregon coach Dan Lanning was asked about NFL rookies returning to college Saturday and spoke to a frustration that is sure to arise frequently among coaches this season if Kiffin and others do load up on late fifth-year additions.
“I think there’s a lot of negatives that are involved around this,” Lanning told reporters. “One, once you go to the NFL, to me you’re in the NFL and you don’t get the opportunity to come back. Two, most of us have built our rosters and you have a limited roster limit now. So if you invited somebody back to your team, that means you’re kicking somebody else off your team to match your roster limits. I don’t think that’s fair to the players that worked all summer, all spring and put themselves in position to be ready to work for a team to have somebody come back.
“But ultimately, it used to be once you had an agent or once you went and did the combine or once you went to minicamp. I mean, all those things qualified as you were no longer an amateur, you’re a professional now once you declared for the draft. So to let any of those players come back, fair or unfair to them, it’s unfair to the sport and I think it’s unfair to the players that are on current teams for those guys to be coming back.”
