AUGUST 29: The SEC has communicated to the athletes’ attorneys that the conference will comply with the TRO, according to a message obtained by Dellenger. Schools will now be free and clear to add players who signed professional contracts earlier this year without penalty. In the immediate future, though, other athletes will sue to overturn other conferences’ bans on professional returnees. There has been some disagreement across jurisdictions regarding this unprecedented situation, but the Texas ruling indicates that the players will likely be successful, at least in receiving their own TROs.

This is a unique situation applying only to high school Class of 2022 athletes for the 2026-2027 NCAA season. They were granted a fifth-year of eligibility via a federal court ruling in Colorado this summer, after they had already signed professional contracts believing that their college careers were over. As a result, the eventual result of these lawsuits – assuming they take longer than the upcoming season – will have little impact outside of the unlikely reinstatement of the SEC’s original punishment for rostering pro returnees.

AUGUST 28: A Dallas judge has granted a temporary restraining order to a group of 41 athletes that effectively overturns the SEC’s ban on football and basketball players returning to the college ranks after signing professional contracts.

The order, issued by Judge Martin Hoffman, is the result of the latest lawsuit from players seeking to exercise a fifth year of NCAA eligibility as established by a federal court in Colorado earlier this summer. The plaintiffs, who include Cowboys wide receiver Jordan Hudson, Chiefs linebacker Wesley Bissainthe, and Chiefs wide receiver Omari Evans, sued the NCAA, the SEC, and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey over the conference’s ruling banning of such professional returnees. 

The ruling confirms those players’ eligibility for the 2026-2027 season and enjoins the listed defendants from blocking their return to an SEC school on the basis of their time on a pro roster, per ESPN’s Dan Murphy and Pete Thamel. Banning one of the plaintiffs will now require the NCAA and/or the SEC to prove to a judge they are doing so for a different reason.

This is a significant blow to recent efforts from across the NCAA, including all four Power Four conferences, to prevent players who signed with professional teams from playing in college this fall. The Mountain West announced their own ban on Thursday, though, like the Big Ten’s rule, it is focused only on football. The Big 12’s policy applies to all sports, while the SEC and ACC both covered basketball as well.

The plaintiffs in the Louisiana lawsuit that includes Buccaneers outside linebacker Jack Pyburn have already amended their complaint to include Sankey and the SEC, per Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. The judge in that case is expected to follow the decision in Texas and allow former Browns tight end Dae’Quan Wright and Saints defensive tackle Zxavian Harris to transfer to LSU after playing at Ole Miss in 2025. Pyburn, who had two sacks in his first preseason game, intends to return to LSU if he is waived by Tampa Bay during final roster cuts this weekend, according to Jon Blau of the Times-Picayune.

But the NCAA is not out of moves. College Football Playoff executives are considering disqualifying teams who roster players who signed professional contracts from competing for a championship in the postseason, Dellenger adds. This may open up the CFP to being added to lawsuits alongside the NCAA and individual conferences who have banned professional returnees.

The NFL is largely remaining uninvolved outside of a ruling that such players may not come back to the pros this year. They will not be eligible for the 2027 draft and will instead be available to sign as free agents next spring.

As of now, Pyburn is the only player involved in one of these lawsuits who could be in a team’s regular-season roster plans. The Browns were planning to waive Wright anyway, per ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi and Kalyn Kahler, and others like Harris had already been released by NFL teams. However, this weekend’s cuts could bring another wave of players into the mix.

If they do not make any team’s 53-man roster, they could prefer another year of NIL money and playing time in college over a year on an NFL practice squad, for which they could make up to $250K (via OverTheCap). This could have the slight effect of thinning the NFL’s practice squad ranks this year, though it is unlikely that any of these players would have a significant impact during the season.