After all that, Brendan Sorsby’s college career is over. Now the spotlight shifts to the NFL.
Sorsby is expected to enter the NFL’s supplemental draft on the heels of immense blowback for his plans to play this season for Texas Tech after a judge granted Sorsby an injunction against the NCAA following a gambling investigation that found Sorsby placed thousands of bets during his four years as a college athlete at Indiana and Cincinnati, including gambling on his own program while playing at Indiana.
The injunction was granted last week. With no end to the backlash in sight, Sorsby — who could have been a first-round pick in next year’s 2027 NFL Draft — bowed out of the fight and will be up for grabs in the NFL Supplemental Draft.
The supplemental draft is essentially a silent auction. Each team submits which round, if any, they would select Sorsby. In the event multiple teams submit a bid of the same round, the rights go to the team highest in the 2026 NFL Draft order. The winning team would lose that corresponding pick in 2027.
The only quarterback to be taken in the supplemental draft post-1992 is Terrelle Pryor by the Raiders in 2011, and no players have been selected in one since 2019. There is no date set yet for a supplemental draft this year because the league still needs to approve Sorsby’s application to enter one. It would be later this summer, should the league approve.
Here are eight NFL teams who may have interest in Sorsby. Pittsburgh was excluded because the team used a third-round pick on Penn State quarterback Drew Allar this year and, despite potentially needing a franchise quarterback beyond this season, rocking Aaron Rodgers‘ and Allar’s boat does not sound like a decision that franchise would historically make.
Arizona Cardinals
Arizona retained Jacoby Brissett, signed Gardner Minshew II and drafted Carson Beck in the third-round. Brissett is unhappy with his contract and wants an adjustment as the anticipated starter entering the 2026 season. The Cardinals are probably fine taking its lumps this season without Brissett. What is to stop them from embracing a competition between Sorsby and Beck to usher in the Mike LaFleur era?
Carolina Panthers
Carolina picked up the fifth-year option of former No. 1 overall selection Bryce Young for the 2027 season, but they could absorb that dead salary cap hit with relative ease. If the Panthers come to the conclusion that Young’s contributions are not worth his contract demands, then they could part ways as Cleveland did with Baker Mayfield.
Cleveland Browns
Diving headfirst into the most high-profile, yet uninspiring quarterback competition of the summer, Cleveland’s only deterrent to bringing in Sorsby is the logjam at the position. Deshaun Watson has to be on the roster for the 2026 season, so that occupies one spot. They have drafted three quarterbacks over the past two years: Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel and Taylen Green. I’d presume Gabriel is the odd man out, but would the Browns be comfortable attempting to stash Taylen Green on the practice squad?
General manager Andrew Berry has been asked about Sorsby. After issuing his customary ‘we will turn over every rock’ statement, the personnel executive shared his belief that the quarterback should be given grace through his situation.
The other consideration is that there is a finite amount of repetitions to go around during training camp and even less if he is not the starter during the regular season. Would Sorsby have a fair opportunity to prove himself before the franchise comes back to the table in the 2027 NFL Draft? Cleveland has more than one selection in next year’s first-round, which gives them flexibility to move around for a player they covet. Not having to use one or both of those picks on a quarterback frees them up to address other objectives.
One of the best quarterbacks in the franchise’s history, Bernie Kosar, was a Supplemental Draft pick in 1985.
Detroit Lions
Jared Goff turns 32-years-old during the upcoming season and his primary backups are 33-year-old Teddy Bridgewater and undrafted free agent Luke Altmyer. The team had previously used a third-round pick on Hendon Hooker in 2023, but Hooker had never been a threat to Goff’s claim as the starting quarterback and is now on his fourth team. Sorsby could be Goff, but three years later on the timeline. The Lions are likely to be too competitive to find themselves within striking distance of a top quarterback in the 2027 NFL Draft, so this represents an opportunity to address the position at a value rate.
Detroit did give Goff a four-year extension in May of 2024, but the dead cap hit drops below $40 million — a paltry sum in comparison to recent figures from Tua Tagovailoa and Russell Wilson — after the 2027 season.
Indianapolis Colts
The Colts rewarded veteran Daniel Jones with a two-year contract extension this off-season. Jones is coming off a significant injury and has a roughly $35 million dead salary cap hit if they team were to move on from him after this season. There is a reasonable path to Indianapolis determining Sorsby is a viable starting quarterback moving forward.
Recently compensated wide receiver Alec Pierce is also a product of the Bearcats’ program, but the two did not overlap.
Miami Dolphins
Miami elected to take its medicine this off-season by accelerating the dead salary cap hit of Tua Tagovailoa and initiating a full blown rebuild. They won the bidding for free agent Malik Willis and still employ Quinn Ewers from last year’s roster; two players the team intends to evaluate this season.
The Dolphins may only be in at a certain price, but there are two types of NFL teams: those with a franchise quarterback and those without. If that question’s answer is without conviction, then there should be no limitations as to how a team opts to address it.
New York Jets
The Jets have three picks in next year’s first round, as well as their own picks in the second and third rounds. They are flush with draft capital and could make that selection without it really impacting the team’s overall draft plan. If the quarterback were to pan out, it frees the franchise up to select three of the best players available in the 2027 NFL Draft. However, one year may be an insufficient amount of time to effectively evaluate Sorsby as a potential franchise quarterback prior to next year’s draft.
Entering the 2026 campaign, Geno Smith is entrenched as the team’s starting quarterback. New York did use a fourth-round pick on Cade Klubnik, who is the primary backup. Neither situation would preclude the Jets from exploring a potential long-term solution at the position.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Baker Mayfield is entering the final year of his current contract with the Buccaneers. The former No. 1 overall selection has been in this position before. Cleveland was not ready to commit top of the market money to him and he was ultimately dealt as the team pivoted to Deshaun Watson.
Mayfield publicly declared a personal deadline to have a contract negotiated prior to training camp or it will have to wait until after the season.
“We love the community, we love being here, they’ve embraced us, and we enjoy being here and obviously gonna raise kids here. But yeah, contract stuff, it’s happening, it’s starting, the talks and what not, but not anywhere close to what we were thinking,” Mayfield said, via NFL Media.
Head coach Todd Bowles has been adamant in his support of Mayfield as the franchise’s starting quarterback, but Bowles, himself, may be entering his last with the organization. Sorsby could be Tampa’s off-ramp to Mayfield.
