NFL Insiders Wary As Signed Players Eye Return To College
A legal fight over college eligibility rules has opened the door for players already under NFL contract to return to college football, and league circles are not pleased about it. Former Ole Miss tight end Dae'Quan Wright, released by the Cleveland Browns this week, was set to become the first such player to make the jump, joining head coach Lane Kiffin's roster at LSU.
That plan hit a snag Tuesday when the SEC joined the Big Ten in barring players who had already signed NFL contracts from competing in either conference. Wright is one of 16 former college football players who sued the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility and won a temporary restraining order permitting them to play college football in 2026. The ruling, stemming from court decisions in Colorado and Louisiana, appears to apply to players who entered college in 2022 and would allow them a fifth year of eligibility. It prompted several college coaches, including Kiffin, to pursue signed NFL players for their rosters before the SEC and Big Ten moved to block the practice. bet on water polo cyprus
Reaction inside the NFL has ranged from frustration to indifference. One NFL scout described the NCAA's handling of eligibility rules as chaotic, comparing it to shifting rules in the "Wild Wild West," and argued the trend follows years of disruption tied to NIL compensation that already kept marginal prospects in school longer than before. An NFL executive called the situation the possible start of "a really big mess" but acknowledged the full scope remains unclear. Others were less alarmed. One agent characterized the eligibility loophole as a one-time anomaly limited to players who made career decisions before the NCAA's new 5/5 eligibility rule took effect, arguing it will not recur once future draft classes make decisions under the new framework. Players seeking to return to college must terminate their NFL contracts and repay any earnings, a threshold that applies only to this year's affected group, with the loophole set to close for the 2027 draft class.
The uncertainty extends to how the NFL will evaluate these players going forward. Scouts say prospects who spend additional time in college will need to be reassessed much like players who log game reps in the UFL or CFL. One scout suggested that any player who impresses during a return to college should be treated as a street free agent eligible for signing if he previously spent time in an NFL camp, offering one possible framework as teams and the league wait to see whether more players follow Wright's path.
