PHOENIX (AP/AZFamily) ― An Arizona Cardinals player is among several athletes who were granted a temporary restraining order by a Louisiana court that would make them eligible to return to college athletics, ESPN reported Wednesday.
Cardinals defensive back Wydett Williams is one player who’s on an active NFL roster and part of the lawsuit. He was a standout senior during his one season at Ole Miss.
Williams was joined in the lawsuit by running back Anthony Hankerson (Seattle Seahawks), pass rusher Jack Pyburn (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and Dae’Quan Wright (Cleveland Browns).
National Team safety Wydett Williams (26), of Mississippi, runs through drills during practice for the Senior Bowl NCAA college football game Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)(Butch Dill | AP)
Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur and safety Budda Baker commented on the unusual possibility of Williams leaving the team Thursday.
“I haven’t spent two cents with that as of now,” LaFleur said. “I just know that he’s done a good job for us so far. So this is going to be wild how all this plays out.”
“We were joking about it a little bit in the DB room,” Baker said. “That’s cool. It’s hard to comment on it. I’ve just never heard of that.”
NFL teams are deep into training camp, and rosters have to be cut to 53 players by Aug. 30. Many who don’t make those clubs could look for a fallback plan in college football, barring a successful appeal by the NCAA.
Cardinals DB Wydett Williams was 1 of 16 players granted a restraining order allowing them to return to college.
Both Cards head coach Mike LaFleur and Budda Baker seemed almost uncomfortable when talking about the possibility of him leaving and returning to college.@azfamily pic.twitter.com/JNY53KLBEe
— Griffin S. DeMarrais (@GDeMarraisTV) August 20, 2026
According to ESPN, 16 football players were part of the lawsuit that included 33 athletes across several sports who are seeking a fifth year of eligibility.
The NCAA has been dealt a series of legal setbacks regarding its eligibility rules.
“Courts across the country granting relief to ineligible athletes who already had every opportunity to compete in college — sometimes without even having a hearing — are failing to appreciate the destabilizing effect their rulings are having on college sports,” Tim Buckley, NCAA senior vice president of external affairs, said in a statement.
“The lawyers bringing these cases seemingly won’t be satisfied until every professional athlete can treat college sports as a fallback option, regardless of the opportunities it strips from those who will never have a chance to begin their collegiate sports experience.”
On July 31, a federal court in Denver ruled that all high school class of 2022 athletes who exhausted their fourth season of college eligibility this spring are eligible for a fifth season this academic year.
That decision came a little more than a month after the NCAA passed a rule that gives athletes five years to complete five seasons of competition, starting with those who enroll in the fall of 2027. The Colorado ruling eliminated the waiting period.
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