Brendan Sorsby wanted to be drafted into the NFL this summer after giving up his fight to be eligible for the upcoming college football season at Texas Tech. The league, however, is denying that desire by choosing not to conduct a 2026 supplemental draft this July.
Instead, Sorsby will need to wait and enter the pool of prospects for the 2027 NFL Draft next April.
Sorsby was informed of the decision via a letter from the NFL's management council, which NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport shared on X.
Here's everything to know about the NFL's decision not to make an exception and grant Sorsby a supplemental draft.
BENDER: The fallout of Brendan Sorsby leaving Texas Tech
NFL letter to Brendan Sorsby
"Dear Mr. Sorsby:
We are in receipt of your Petition for Special Eligibility, dated June 16, 2026 (“Petition”). As announced earlier today, the League has elected not to conduct a Supplemental Draft this year.
Under our Collective Bargaining Agreement, the League retains sole discretion to determine whether it is appropriate to conduct a Supplemental Draft in any given year. 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. 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.
The sole reasons identified in your Petition for seeking entry into the Supplemental Draft are that you have been “declared ineligible” by the NCAA, have “exhausted all of [your] avenues to continue in the NCAA,” and “want to now play in the NFL.” The Petition provides no information regarding the basis for, or timing of, the NCAA’s decision. Public sources, however, indicate that in May 2026 the NCAA issued a determination declaring you permanently ineligible from participation in college athletics, based on a sustained pattern of improper gambling activity during your collegiate career at three different universities.
The League does not have the complete record of the NCAA’s investigation, and you did not provide any such materials with your Petition. Available information nonetheless indicates that, over the course of your collegiate career, you knowingly engaged in repeated and significant violations of NCAA rules designed to preserve the integrity of athletic competition. Reported conduct includes placing wagers on your own team and teammates and, to avoid detection, establishing or funding accounts in the names of intermediaries who placed bets on your behalf. There are also reports that you may have violated state criminal law.
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. 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.
As Commissioner Goodell has emphasized, participation in the NFL is a privilege that carries with it significant responsibilities, including accountability. By all accounts, you are a talented player with the potential for future success. We encourage you to focus on preparing for possible entry into the NFL through the 2027 NFL Annual Draft.
Sincerely, Lawrence P. Ferazani, Jr."
Why was the NFL so critical in rejecting Brendan Sorsby's petition?
The tone of the league's letter suggests that Sorsby had little chance of getting his wish granted, that he rushed the petition without an sufficient argument to force a supplemental draft in which he would have been the sole entrant.
The NFL also didn't appreciate not having time to get the complete details of the investigation tied to NCAA's decision to declare Sorsby ineligible to play at Texas Tech.
Most of all, given the NFL's zero tolerance toward gambling indiscretions by players in his league, the league sounded skeptical about Sorsby being contrite for his many college violations and failed to show an acceptable level of accountability for his actions.
There's no doubt the league wanted to send a message that it will not make a special exception for a player found to be gambling on football games.
DeCOURCY: Don't blame the gaming industry if Brendan Sorsby's college football career is over
What are Brendan Sorsby's chances to make the NFL reverse its decision?
This was the reaction of Sorsby's lawyer, Jeffery Kessler, to the NFL telling Sorsby it would not hold a supplemental draft, per ESPN's Pete Thamel:
"It is a violation of the CBA and the law," Kessler said. "We will pursue this immediately with the NFLPA."
But the NFL makes the call whether to hold a supplemental draft, a power granted to them by the players' union based on the terms of the current CBA.
The NFL put it right there in the second paragraph of its letter to Sorsby: "Under our Collective Bargaining Agreement, the League retains sole discretion to determine whether it is appropriate to conduct a Supplemental Draft in any given year."
As the league suggested, Sorsby needs to move on and try to find a way to boost his his NFL draft stock in 2027 without the crucial benefit of seeing the field in major college football in the 2026 season.