Pro Football Rumors
In deciding not to hold a supplemental draft following Texas Tech quarterback **Brendan Sorsby‘**s application, the NFL didn’t quite slam the door shut on Sorsby’s ability to play football in 2026, but it did significantly limit his options for doing so. As the self-proclaimed recovering gambling addict attempts to make his way back to the field, he only has a few avenues left available to him.
In an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network detailed the possibilities. The first real option for Sorsby is to not accept the league’s decision and to argue his case for the supplemental draft. As Peliserro understands it, the CBA gives the league the power to decide whether or not to hold the supplemental draft. Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, though, Sorsby’s attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, told the network that “it is a violation of the CBA and law” to not hold a supplemental draft.
In response to the release of the NFL’s letter detailing its reasoning for not holding the supplemental draft, Kessler released a statement on he and Sorsby’s side of the story. The statement (via Florio) claimed that Sorsby’s team inquired with the league in late April about what was needed to gain entry into the supplemental draft, and the league responded that the application needed to be submitted prior to June 22 with no indications that “it would need or want to review anything other than the application itself or that submitting the application at or close to the deadline would have any impact on the NFL’s consideration.”
Kessler went on to describe the supplemental draft application as a document that “asked for basic biographical information, responses to four yes-or-no questions, and included a small space for Mr. Sorsby to state ‘why are you applying for the 2026 Supplemental Draft?'” Kessler’s statement claims that Sorsby’s agent, Ron Slavin, followed up with the league office to inquire if anything else was needed or if any other questions could be answered, and the league declined the opportunity. He then says the NFL released the letter denying Sorsby’s entry to the media before providing it to anyone in Sorsby’s corner.
Kessler then pledged to pursue the matter with the NFL Players Association. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk believes this would put the NFLPA in an awkward spot as Sorsby is not yet a member of the union. Florio ventures that the NFLPA has an obligation not to back Sorsby as doing so would mean a player currently represented by the union as an active member of an NFL team’s 90-man roster would be losing their job as a result.
Pelissero’s second realistic option for Sorsby is for him to stay in Texas and use the time available to him to train and prepare for the 2027 NFL Draft. Currently, it’s reported that Sorsby is still training and preparing as if he is working up to the pro day he had planned for July 10. But, if no supplemental draft is...
