The NFL has already made its position clear. No supplemental draft in 2026. And that means Brendan Sorsby, the former Texas Tech quarterback with a gambling problem, has no obvious path to the league next year. But Sorsby isn’t going quietly. He’s expected to challenge the decision, arguing that the league can’t keep him out just because it decided to scrap a draft that wasn’t even guaranteed to exist.
Here’s the thing though. The NFL has been here before. And the case they’ll point to is Maurice Clarett’s.
The Clarett Precedent Is Bad News for Sorsby
Back in 2004, Clarett tried to enter the NFL Draft early. He was only two years removed from high school, which violated the league’s eligibility rule at the time. But Clarett argued he wasn’t part of the NFL Players Association, so the collective bargaining agreement shouldn’t apply to him. The courts disagreed. They ruled that even though Clarett wasn’t a union member, the CBA still governed his eligibility.
That decision gave the NFL a powerful tool. And they’re going to use it here.
NFL insider Albert Breer spelled it out recently. Sorsby’s argument will be that he’s not a member of the union, so the CBA’s broad powers don’t apply. But the league can just point to Clarett and say, “We’ve been through this. You’re subject to the CBA anyway.”
That’s a hard precedent to beat.
Why the NFL Is Making an Example of Him
Sorsby didn’t just gamble on football. He gambled on games his own team was playing in. That’s a line you don’t cross, and the league knows it. Even though Sorsby isn’t an NFL player yet, they see him as someone who broke a rule that would get any active player suspended or banned. So by pulling the supplemental draft entirely, they’re sending a message without having to formally discipline someone who isn’t even in the building.
Is that fair? Depends on who you ask. But the NFL has the leverage here, and they’re not afraid to use it.
Players like Terrelle Pryor and Josh Gordon got into the supplemental draft after losing NCAA eligibility for other violations. But those were different circumstances. Pryor took improper benefits. Gordon failed drug tests. Neither had a gambling problem tied to their own games. The NFL treats gambling differently, especially when it involves game integrity.
So where does that leave Sorsby? Probably watching from home in 2026. The supplemental draft isn’t happening. His appeal faces a long legal road. And even if he wins in court, the league could still just decide not to hold a draft at all. It’s their decision, not his.
For now, the smart money says Sorsby sits out at least a year. Maybe longer. And the Clarett case is the reason why.
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