Pro Football Rumors
As each day goes by following the NFL’s rejection of Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby‘s application for a supplemental draft, it’s becoming less and less likely that legal action is coming. If that door officially closes, it will be the second to have done so as the Canadian Football League has barred its teams from signing Sorsby or adding him to their negotiation list, per Paul Myerberg of USA Today.
The CFL began their season just over three weeks ago. Americans are able to join a team roster by entering the CFL’s annual draft in April or going through an open tryout. Those taking the tryout route “can be signed by any CFL franchise or placed on a team’s ‘negotiation list,’ meaning his signing rights are exclusively owned by that team.” The Canadian league didn’t mince its words when explaining its reasoning for preventing Sorsby’s entry.
“Upholding the integrity of the league and ensuring fair competition are paramount to the CFL,” the league said in a statement. “The allegations involving Brendan Sorsby are serious and concerning. At this time, the CFL will not register a contract for him, and no team will be permitted to add him to its negotiation list.”
As for the potential that Sorsby and his lawyer, Jeffrey Kessler, might sue their way into the NFL, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk fears the time for that may have passed. A successful result of another lawsuit would mean that a supplemental draft would still need to take place, and Sorsby would likely still want to put on a pro day to display his talents and abilities and open himself up to any potential evaluators in the NFL.
That all would need to take place fairly quickly; at this point, the deadline to apply for the supplemental draft has long passed. The actual litigation of a case could be a lengthy process, alone, not to mention everything that would need to come after. Clearly, Sorsby’s legal team is fully aware of this, yet they still have not acted off Kessler’s initial comments suggesting a legal challenge could be coming. If they decide to file and Kessler urges a court to be expeditious, the court will likely inquire into why Kessler didn’t act faster to initiate the process in the first place.
With one door closed and the other fast closing, Sorsby’s well of options is quickly running dry. The other day, we offered that another professional league could be the answer for Sorsby, but the CFL said no, and the United Football League’s next season won’t start until after the next Super Bowl. The last options we mentioned were collegiate ones outside the NCAA. Sorsby could still attempt to join a junior college or NAIA team, but he’ll likely want to do that soon, as well, in order to get his bearings.
Sorsby could also do nothing and start preparing for the 2027 NFL Draft. Whatever the case, it seems the NFL and NCAA have worked in tandem...
