After a strong performance in the preseason opener for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it appeared undrafted rookie linebacker Jack Pyburn was setting himself up for an NFL future. Instead, Pyburn is one of 16 former college football players, some of whom are signed to NFL contracts, who are looking to return to college for the 2026 season.This unprecedented situation of a player going from the NFL back to the NCAA stems from Louisiana’s 19th Judicial District Court granting a temporary restraining order that could allow more than 30 college athletes a fifth year of eligibility. Pyburn played his first three seasons of college football at the University of Florida before playing a fourth season at LSU in 2025. The TRO would not only allow Pyburn to return to college football, but he would be able to enter the transfer portal, where schools can bid for his services. He would be eligible for the upcoming college football season, which begins in a few weeks.“I saw the ruling,” Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said Thursday. “I have not heard anything from him.”Pyburn was seen practicing with the team Thursday. Tampa Bay resumes its preseason schedule Saturday when it hosts the Kansas City Chiefs.If Pyburn did go back to college, Tampa Bay would retain his NFL rights. According to the league’s collective bargaining agreement, “If Player … fails or refuses to perform his services under this contract, then this contract will be tolled between the date of Player’s … failure or refusal to perform, and the later date of his return to professional football.”That means the three-year contract he signed with the Bucs would effectively pause and resume if and when he returned to the NFL.Will former NFL players play college football this season?Justin WilliamsThe recent saga is just the latest in a long list of lawsuits regarding NCAA eligibility disputes. At the heart of the issue is the financial element, which was highlighted by another case earlier this offseason. Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and his lawyers fought the NCAA to allow him to stay in college for another year, even though Chambliss was projected to be a mid-round draft pick. As The Athletic outlined in that situation, Chambliss is expected to make between $5 million and $6 million this season at Ole Miss. Even if Chambliss fell on the lower end of that spectrum, he will still make more than 246 of the 257 players drafted in the 2026 NFL Draft.As an undrafted free agent this year, even if his training camp and preseason performance helps his case for an NFL roster spot, Pyburn’s financial upside for the 2026 season could be higher in the college ranks. Pyburn received a $15,000 signing bonus from the Buccaneers and was guaranteed $100,000 for the upcoming season. If he were to make an NFL team and spent the entire season on the 53-man roster, he’d make the league minimum of $885,000. A full season on an NFL practice squad would earn him about $250,000.Given the nature of a player on an NFL contract returning to college, the TRO does outline that the player may go down that path “so long as they terminate any such contract and repay any money they have received prior to playing in a collegiate game.” That means Pyburn would have to pay back the signing bonus he received from the Bucs.Pyburn was graded as a sixth-round pick in The Beast, with draft expert Dane Brugler evaluating him as a player who “doesn’t offer much upside as a pass rusher, but he is stout versus the run and competes with a touch of insanity to him (in a good way).” Brugler highlighted Pyburn’s 574 special-teams snaps in college as an asset that could result in him making “the back end of an NFL roster.”Pyburn was spotlighted by The Athletic’s Daniel Popper as one of 11 roster bubble players last week who stood out across the NFL after the first week of preseason, both for his sacks and his special-teams potential.“Teams need their end-of-the-depth-chart edge rushers to play special teams,” Popper wrote. “Pyburn looks like he would be capable. But some NFL film in that phase could enhance how attractive he is on the waiver wire, if he makes it there.”Bowles, speaking earlier this week about Pyburn’s preseason performance, also highlighted his special-teams skills.“If you’re going to be toward the back end of the outside (linebackers), you’ve got to be able to play special teams, and you’ve kind of got to be a jack-of-all-trades and do certain things,” Bowles said. “He made us watch it. He made it known, and we’re going to see what he does going forward, but he definitely made an impression.”Pyburn also spoke to reporters earlier in the week and was asked how he deals with the uncertainty of training camp.“I’m not really worried about what the outcome is,” he said. “If anything, I’m just going to continue my daily process, and at the end of the day try to be the best player that I can be, and hopefully one day that’s one of the best in the league.”— NFL writer Daniel Popper contributed to this report.