As we enter the dead part of the NFL offseason, there is rightly a ton of focus on Brendan Sorsby and the Pittsburgh Steelers are now part of that conversation.
Sorsby, who was caught up in a gambling scandal that has ended his collegiate career at Texas Tech, has reportedly decided to apply for the NFL supplemental draft in July.
This is a big deal because Sorsby was widely viewed as one of the better college quarterbacks going into the 2026 season and he will be one of the more hyped supplemental draft picks in NFL history as a result, assuming he’s approved.
Quarterback-needy teams are going to have interest, and it appears the Steelers could be one of them, according to Mike DeFabo of The Athletic.
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“It sounds like right now, the Steelers are currently doing their homework,” DeFabo said on The Yinziders podcast. “It sounds like [the gambling issue] at this point would not be a disqualifier for the Steelers.”
The simple fact that the Steelers are “doing their homework” on him means we shouldn’t rule out Pittsburgh putting in a bid for Sorsby if he’s approved for the Supplemental Draft.
Why Brendan Sorsby to Steelers makes sense
Oct 25, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Brendan Sorsby walks off the field after defeating the Baylor Bears at Nippert Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images
The Steelers are likely to only get one more season out of Aaron Rodgers, who admitted this is going to be his final campaign in the NFL.
The future beyond 2026 is extremely murky for the Steelers at quarterback.
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The Steelers have drafted quarterbacks in back-to-back years with Will Howard in 2025 and Drew Allar in 2026, but there is no telling how their careers will pan out because both are unproven.
It would make all the sense in the world for Pittsburgh to take a swing on Sorsby.
What is the NFL supplemental draft?
Feb 5, 2026; San Francisco, CA, USA; A NFL shield logo at the NFL Honors Red Carpet before Super Bowl LX at Palace of Fine Arts. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The NFL supplemental draft takes place in the summer and is for college players who missed the filing date for the regular NFL Draft in April.
We typically see players who lose college eligibility for either academic or disciplinary reasons enter the supplemental draft. Sorsby falls into the latter category.
Players must apply to enter and are not guaranteed to be accepted.
The draft is seven rounds and teams can put in bids using picks from the following year’s draft, so in this case it would be 2027 draft picks.
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The draft order is broken down into three groups (teams with six or fewer wins, non-playoff teams and then playoff teams) and the order of the teams in those groups is random.
If two teams place the same bid, the tie-breaker is whichever team is higher in the order.
So, for example, the Steelers were a playoff team in 2025 and if they were to tie for the highest bid with the Arizona Cardinals, Arizona would win out.
The supplemental draft is not a yearly thing, though, and is only held when players actually apply. There hasn’t been a supplemental draft since 2023.