The NFL has moved to draw a line around a fast-changing corner of the college football landscape.
According to ESPN, the league clarified that a player who returns to college this season will not be allowed to sign with an NFL team during the 2026 season. The league also made clear that if a player signs an NFL contract and is later cut, he becomes a free agent. He can sign with another NFL team, go to the CFL or head back to college, but he would not be part of a future draft.
That clarification lands at a moment when LSU is aggressively chasing former pros.
Former Browns tight end Dae'Quan Wright became the first player with NFL experience to enter the transfer portal after clearing waivers following his release by Cleveland. He has since joined LSU’s football team.
LSU also added defensive tackle Zxavian Harris, who spent time with the New Orleans Saints after going undrafted. Harris, like Wright, played for current LSU coach Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss. After clearing waivers, Harris entered the transfer portal following a successful lawsuit in Louisiana.
The Tigers have also landed former Notre Dame pass rusher Junior Tuihalamaka after the NCAA granted him another year of eligibility.
Kiffin said last week that Browns head coach Todd Monken had reached out to him, and he made it clear this week that LSU is not the only program involved in this race for former NFL players.
Texas recently added fifth-year offensive lineman Cole Hutson, who had taken part in NFL minicamps but never signed a contract. Hutson joined the Longhorns after filing for a temporary injunction that would have allowed him to play in the 2026 college football season.
The SEC has already responded to the broader trend. On Tuesday, the conference announced that any player who has signed a professional contract or been listed on a pro sports roster cannot play in the league. Players who took part in professional drafts are also barred.
By Wednesday, the SEC had set the punishment for breaking that rule, sources told CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander. The penalties include a half-season suspension for the head coach, the loss of certain conference voting privileges and a fine of up to 50% of the sport’s annual operating budget. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey also can hand down additional penalties.
LSU president Wade Rousse abstained from Wednesday’s vote on the penalty structure, which passed 15-0. A day earlier, Rousse and LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry voted in favor of the SEC rule banning former NFL, NBA and WNBA players from competing in the conference.
“At the end of the day, because of these rulings, they're either going to play for you or they're going to play for someone else around the country,” Kiffin said. “So we've made the decision to recruit them like probably most people are.”
The NFL’s clarification arrives as the league’s mandatory cutdown date approaches and college football keeps rewriting the rules around who can come and go.
The whole idea has been hard to process for Rams head coach Sean McVay, who reacted to Wright’s move with a blunt, bewildered answer.
"I feel like I took a freakin' gummy," he said. "I don't even understand it.
… I mean, I'm looking at this stuff. I'm like, 'Surely that's not real.'
I just try to stay in my lane. But I would say it's very unique, and it's very different. ...
It's wild. That's what I would say."
In Other News...
LSU Just Made A No. 18 Choice Fans Will Debate
LSUs latest nod to its locker-room standards came with a familiar kind of weight, as center Braelin Moore was chosen to carry the No. 18 tradition into this season. The honor has long been reserved for players who embody leadership and selflessness, and it remains one of the programs more meaningful internal markers. Moore is only the second offensive lineman to earn the distinction, which says plenty about how the Tigers view his role beyond the line of scrimmage.
Because of NCAA numbering rules, Moore will wear a patch representing No. 18 rather than the number itself, but the symbolism is still the point. The tradition dates back to quarterback Matt Mauck and has been passed along to players whose value shows up in the huddle, in the meeting room and in the way teammates respond to them. For LSU, the selection is another reminder that some of its biggest expectations are measured less by statistics than by the standard a player sets every day. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Just Made A No. 18 Choice Fans Will Read Into
LSU added a familiar bit of symbolism to its roster this week by honoring Braelin Moore with the No. 18 jersey, a number reserved for the Tiger who best reflects leadership and character. Moore, a fifth-year senior center, will keep wearing No. 61 on game day because of NCAA numbering rules, but the patch attached to his uniform carries real meaning around the program.
The choice is notable for another reason: it is only the second time an LSU offensive lineman has received the honor, following Lloyd Cushenberry in 2019. For a position group that usually gets its praise in quieter ways, the gesture says plenty about how Moore is viewed inside the program and why this one figures to resonate with fans who pay attention to the details. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffin Is Fueling A Debate LSU Fans Can't Ignore
Lane Kiffin is back in the conversation around LSU, but this time it has nothing to do with play-calling or the transfer portal. He appears as the villain in a new Dr. Pepper "Fansville" commercial set to air this football season, another reminder that his image still carries plenty of edge in college football circles and plenty of baggage for fans who remember his Ole Miss days well.
The timing makes the spot especially hard for LSU fans to ignore, because the Tigers have just added former NFL players DaaQuan Wright and Zxavian Harris after both were cut and then entered the transfer portal. Both players once played for Kiffin at Ole Miss before he took over at LSU, which gives the commercial a little extra irony for a fan base still sorting through how to view its coachs old ties. [Read more 🡒]