The NFL has informed clubs and Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby that it will not hold a supplemental draft this year, meaning Sorsby is ineligible to enter the league in 2026, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported on Tuesday.
The current collective bargaining agreement allows the league to decide whether to hold a supplemental draft or not.
"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 management council said in a letter to Sorsby, obtained by Rapoport. "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 NCAA had deemed Sorsby ineligible to play collegiate football in 2026, with court records showing that Sorsby had acknowledged making thousands of bets worth at least $90,000 while a student-athlete at Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech. A temporary injunction on June 8, however, was set to allow him to serve a two-game suspension and play in 2026 before Sorsby eventually dropped his lawsuit with the intention of entering the supplemental draft.
Sorsby has spent four seasons at the college level -- two each at Indiana and Cincinnati, starting the past two seasons for the Bearcats. He threw for 2,800 yards, 27 touchdowns and five interceptions and ran for 580 yards and nine scores at UC in 2025.
Sorsby transferred to Texas Tech this past offseason as one of the highest-profile quarterbacks in the portal prior to admitting himself into a residential treatment program for gambling addiction in April.
The deadline for players to apply for entry into the supplemental draft was Monday.
"The League does not have the complete record of the NCAA’s investigation, and you did not provide any such materials with your Petition," the league said in its letter to Sorsby. "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."
Sorsby, the only applicant for the supplemental draft this year, cannot be signed by an NFL team as a free agent this year but could potentially play in other professional leagues. The Canadian Football League's season kicks off Thursday, and the United Football League doesn’t start up again until next spring.
"We encourage you to focus on preparing for possible entry into the NFL through the 2027 NFL Annual Draft," the league stated in its letter.
The league has not held a supplemental draft since 2023, when no players were selected. The last time a player was selected in the supplemental draft was when the Cardinals used a fifth-round pick on safety Jalen Thompson in 2019.