The NFL has declined to hold a supplemental draft next month and informed former Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby by letter, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Sorsby, who dropped his eligibility case against the NCAA last week, will now have to wait until next year’s 2027 NFL Draft, barring any potential legal challenges.
Sorsby’s attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, called the NFL’s decision to not hold a supplemental draft “a violation” of the league’s collective bargaining agreement and indicated they will pursue immediate legal action.
“It is a violation of the CBA and the law,” Kessler told On3’s Pete Nakos. “We will pursue this with the NFLPA immediately.”
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The NFL hasn’t held a supplemental draft in the past three years, and the last time a player was selected via the supplemental draft was in 2019 when the Arizona Cardinals took former Washington State safety Jalen Thompson in the fifth round. In its letter to Sorsby, the NFL’s legal counsel explained its decision to not hold the supplemental draft was already made prior to Sorsby’s petition, which was filed June 16 on the same day his legal team withdrew his case against the NCAA.
Check out the full letter the NFL sent Sorsby below, via NBC’s Albert Breer:
The NFL has decline Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby’s application to enter the supplemental draft. @SINow has obtained the letter the league sent to Sorsby to inform him of the decision.
Here is the text of it … pic.twitter.com/oaclD85Cnt
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) June 23, 2026
“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 letter to Sorsby read, per Schefter. “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 announced his intention to part ways with Texas Tech late June 15, one week after a retired Texas state judge granted him a temporary injunction that restored his collegiate eligibility after the NCAA declared him ineligible for notorious sports gambling. The 22-year-old Sorsby admitted placing thousands of bets totaling more than $90,000 over a four-year period between 2022-26, including more than 40 wagers on Indiana football games in 2022 when he was a freshman reserve with the Hoosiers. Those betting activities carried over to his time at Cincinnati, which was reportedly notified of Sorsby’s gambling proclivities in Aug. 2025, according to USA Today’s Matt Hayes.
The NFL cited Sorsby’s past gambling activities in its rejection letter and noted his petition to enter the supplemental draft did not directly address any of those admitted issues. The NFL’s letter is also critical of how Sorsby sought legal recourse rather than accept the NCAA’s discipline for breaking its gambling rules.
“Your Petition does not address these matters. Nor does it demonstrate accountability for your conduct or indicate whether, or how, you would adhere to the League’s rules and policies governing the integrity of competition,” the NFL letter to Sorsby read. “Instead, even after receiving notice of the NCAA’s decision rescinding your college eligibility in May, you sought to avoid the consequences of that determination through litigation rather than accepting responsibility for your actions, and you pursued entry into the NFL only after abandoning those efforts.”
Sorsby submitted his petition to enter the NFL’s supplemental draft last Tuesday after a mutual split with Texas Tech despite winning a temporary injunction against the NCAA’s permanent eligibility ban for his past gambling activities on June 8. The injunction sparked widespread pushback throughout the college football world, especially within the Big 12, where league leaders were pressuring the conference to sanction Texas Tech for its tentative plan to play Sorsby in 2026.
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