A week after Brendan Sorsby’s NFL career seemed bound to start no earlier than 2027, the tides of NCAA and Big 12 powers shifted yet again Monday night.
And off to NFL Supplemental Draft consideration Sorsby goes.
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Just seven days prior, a North Texas judge had granted the Texas Tech quarterback an (albeit stunning) injunction from his NCAA ban that would reinstate him to play college football for the Red Raiders this fall, but mounting backlash changed the fortunes of a quarterback who had undergone treatment for a diagnosed gambling addiction and anxiety disorder.
Then a Big 12 legal complaint paired with pressure from member schools and multiple state attorneys general led Tech and Sorsby to the conclusion that had long seemed most likely.
Sorsby “will not be part of the Texas Tech football team this Fall,” Cody Campbell, Texas Tech Board of Regents chair, confirmed in a three-page statement.
QB Brendan Sorsby won’t play a down at Texas Tech in the 2026 season. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
(John E. Moore III via Getty Images)
Sorsby will instead apply for entry into the NFL’s Supplemental Draft, for players whose NCAA eligibility has changed between the current year’s draft deadline and the preseason.
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A person with knowledge of Sorsby’s plans confirmed to Yahoo Sports that Sorsby’s representation will withdraw their lawsuit fighting for his eligibility on Tuesday. That withdrawal will allow him to apply for the supplemental draft by the June 22 deadline that has not changed, a league spokesperson confirmed to Yahoo Sports.
“There is no practical way to resolve all the various pending legal disputes and ensure his eligibility prior to this date,” Campbell wrote in his letter. “This is the only viable and fair path for Brendan and his future, as well as for his teammates, and for our university.”
With Sorsby’s most likely next football step coming in the NFL, the pressing question becomes: Do teams want the transfer who played at Indiana and Cincinnati? How do they view his talent against the risk that his gambling past will derail his pro career, too?
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Yahoo Sports spoke to four league executives and talent evaluators in late May about their evaluations and concerns.
All four believed Sorsby would be selected if he applies for and is granted entry into the NFL’s Supplemental Draft, which the person close to Sorsby said his camp expects to happen.
Monday night, the belief that someone will take a chance on Sorsby continued among league sources. Opinion varied more strongly on how soon Sorsby could play — or be allowed to play — in the NFL.
“My sense is the bets themselves weren’t anything teams will be concerned about,” a high-ranking AFC executive told Yahoo Sports in late May. “But the real question will be, what does he have in place to make sure this doesn’t pop up again in his career for something like an MMA, college football or NBA bet?
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“… With all addictions, it is hard to predict the likelihood of success.”
Receivers including the Patriots’ Kayshon Boutte, the Detroit Lions’ Jameson Williams and the Tennessee Titans’ Calvin Ridley have rebounded to play in the NFL after suspensions for sports betting. The challenge for a quarterback is different.
On one hand, quarterbacks’ fame and leadership roles expose them to more scrutiny. On the other, the quarterback demand always far exceeds supply.
“Hard to find QBs, so risk tolerance will always be higher,” a high-ranking NFC executive told Yahoo Sports. “Especially since this [past] draft was so bad and people who may have wanted [a] young QB didn’t take one.”
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The last quarterback selected in the supplemental draft was Terrelle Pryor, whom the Raiders took with a third-round pick in 2011.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Pryor five games upon entry after the former Ohio State star used the supplemental draft to bypass an NCAA suspension of the same length. That suspension could become precedent for Goodell to suspend Sorsby early in his NFL career if he believes Sorsby’s actions dictate punishment.
Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor, pictured in the 2011 Sugar Bowl vs. Arkansas, was the last QB selected in the NFL Supplemental Draft. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
(Kevin C. Cox via Getty Images)
While Sorsby’s betting to this point predates his NFL employment, one source believed Ridley’s one-year suspension for betting on his own team in the NFL seemed a realistic precedent. Sorsby placed at least 40 bets on Indiana football while a member of its roster, per ESPN reporting on a Sorsby filing. Those bets included bets for the under on Indiana’s quarterback passing yards and first-half scoring.
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“I don’t know how you do less given he bet on his own team,” the NFC executive said, referencing Ridley. “[Goodell] has to send [a] deterrent to other college athletes.”
Considering a suspension is only relevant if an NFL team selects Sorsby in the supplemental draft.
That is likely, sources say.
After starting 10 games in his second season at Indiana, Sorsby started 24 games in two years for Cincinnati. He amassed 5,613 passing yards and 45 touchdowns to 12 interceptions in those two seasons. He rushed for another 1,027 yards and 18 scores. NFL talent evaluators had begun preparing to keep tabs on him at Texas Tech this fall after Sorsby’s transfer.
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With the possibility of an expedited timeline, two evaluators in late May projected Sorsby as a late first- to early second-round pick in the supplemental draft. A third evaluator described Sorsby as a first-round talent who’s more likely to net a third-round pick given the “discount” for his gambling risk. A fourth evaluator said their team graded Sorsby as worth a third- to fourth-round pick in the 2026 draft, slotting behind third-round Steelers pick Drew Allar and fourth-round New York Jets pick Cade Klubnik. But that evaluator believed the stronger 2027 class would drop Sorsby’s value to a fifth- to seventh-round pick.
“He’s probably as good as [Duke quarterback] Darian Mensah,” an NFC evaluator said. “They’re probably in the same boat. I think they’re both going to be like late one/early two-type draft picks.”
Evaluators compared Sorsby’s style and college résumé to that of Jordan Love and Carson Wentz. Sorsby’s physical gifts, arm talent and ability to throw off platform pop — while his “reckless gunslinger” style of play needs to be honed with discipline and development, they say.
“It’s like a raw ball of clay, but high upside,” an NFC evaluator said. “He’s not going to be ready from a processing standpoint, I don’t think, early on. But [for] one of these teams that don’t really have a quarterback or they have an older quarterback?
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“Somebody’s going to take a shot on that dude.”
Brent Sorsby threw for over 5,500 yards in his two seasons at Cincinnati. (Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
What might a Sorsby NFL entry look like?
By no means will every NFL team believe Sorsby is worth the chance. Some continue to view gambling as an unforgivable sin.
But he needs just one team to bid in the supplemental draft to land him on its roster.
As of late May, evaluators expected interest from multiple teams. An NFC executive said Monday they did not expect the public court and NCAA battles to influence that reality.
“The college issue is about eligibility, the NCAA and enforcement,” the executive told Yahoo Sports on Monday. “None of that comes into play in the NFL. Sorsby is a litmus test in whether the NCAA can have any limits on who participates, or can a local judge overrule the NCAA in basically any case.
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“If Roger rules you can’t play, you can’t play.”
And perhaps Goodell will rule that — at least for a suspension period. But the likelihood is any team taking Sorsby in a July draft is not viewing him as a Week 1 starter. So a reality could unfold where Sorsby serves his suspension while a member of a team’s roster in a 2026 year in which they intended to stash rather than feature him.
Will the Minnesota Vikings want to stash Sorsby as an option after Kyler Murray’s current one-year deal expires? Will the Pittsburgh Steelers want to prepare for life after Aaron Rodgers or the Jets for life after Geno Smith?
Teams like the Jets and Cleveland Browns, who each have multiple 2027 first-round picks, may instead want to package those picks to receive the best of cleaner prospects with less demonstrated risk. But teams like the Steelers and Vikings, whose competitive rosters could lead them to their familiar late first-round slots, might be more interested.
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Understanding how long a suspension could last, and how that would impact a team’s timeline for developing Sorsby, will be important, too.
Texas Tech had instituted device monitoring and worked with Sorsby surrounding counseling and mental health resources. It would not be surprising if reinstatement from an NFL suspension comes with similar conditions.
“Brendan, while he made many mistakes that he openly admits, has also been part of a much larger broken and predatory system …” Campbell wrote to the Tech community. “We wish our best to Brendan, and we offer our prayers to him and his family as he chases his dreams at the next level.”
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