NFL nixes 2026 supplemental draft, citing Sorsby
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- NFL declined to hold a 2026 supplemental draft, invoking its CBA authority and telling ESPN it would be a "distraction" to teams beginning training camps
- Brendan Sorsby admitted to betting thousands of times on college and pro sports — wagers totaling upward of $90,000, including 40 bets on Indiana football while he was on the team
- Sorsby's attorney Jeffrey Kessler called the decision "a violation of the CBA and the law" and said he would "pursue this immediately with the NFLPA"
- The NCAA declared Sorsby permanently ineligible in May 2026 based on a sustained pattern of improper gambling during his time at three different universities
- The NFL's rejection letter, signed by management council general counsel Larry Ferazani, said Sorsby filed his petition three business days before the deadline, without supporting documentation, and only after abandoning litigation against NCAA sanctions
- No player has been selected in an NFL supplemental draft since 2019, though Sorsby could pursue the CFL, and the league encouraged him to target the 2027 draft
Why it matters: Sorsby's path to the NFL now runs through the 2027 draft, and his attorney's threat to escalate through the NFLPA and courts sets up a test of whether the league's discretion over the supplemental process can be challenged as a CBA violation. The NFL effectively preserved its right to refuse individual supplemental cases by tying the rejection to game-integrity concerns tied to gambling — a hot-button issue across pro sports.
