The NFL has informed clubs and Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby that it will not hold a supplemental draft this year, meaning Sorsby is ineligible to enter the league in 2026, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported on Tuesday.
The current collective bargaining agreement allows the league to decide whether to hold a supplemental draft or not.
"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," The NFL's management council said in a letter to Sorsby, obtained by Rapoport. "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."
Sorsby, the only applicant for the supplemental draft this year, cannot be signed by an NFL team as a free agent but could potentially play in other professional leagues this year.
"We encourage you to focus on preparing for possible entry into the NFL through the 2027 NFL Annual Draft," the league said in its letter to Sorsby.
The NCAA had deemed Sorsby ineligible to play collegiate football in 2026, with court records showing that Sorsby had acknowledged making thousands of bets worth at least $90,000 while a student athlete at Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech, but a temporary injunction on June 8 was set to allow him to serve a two-game suspension and play in 2026 before Sorsby eventually dropped his lawsuit with the intention of entering the supplemental draft.
That pathway to playing in the NFL in 2026 has now been blocked.
Around The NFL will have more on Sorsby shortly.
