The NFL on Tuesday informed former Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby—who battled the NCAA in court over eligibility despite betting on his own team and his own teammates—that his petition for a supplemental draft to play in the 2026 NFL season was denied. Absent a successful legal challenge, Sorsby will only be eligible for the NFL through the 2027 NFL Draft.
Through a letter authored by NFL Management Council general counsel Larry Ferazani, the NFL explained that Sorsby failed to provide “any supporting information or documentation” to justify the league holding a draft for one player, Sorsby.
Sorsby, 22, could have made himself eligible for the 2026 draft held in April. He satisfied the NFL’s basic eligibility requirement of being more than three years removed from high school graduation. Sorsby instead pursued litigation against the NCAA, which held he was ineligible for integrity-of-the-game violations through gambling.
Eligibility alone doesn’t permit entry into the NFL.
As detailed in the CBA, no player can enter the NFL until he has been eligible for selection in an NFL draft. The next annual draft will be held in April 2027. The league has sometimes in the past agreed to hold a supplemental draft for players who become eligible after the April draft. But whether the NFL holds a supplemental draft and who is eligible for it are entirely up to the NFL, a private business.
