Todd Monken didn’t need long to sum up the odd place Dae’Quan Wright has landed in.
After Cleveland’s preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, the Browns head coach was asked about the tight end’s situation, and Monken didn’t hide how bizarre it all looks.
“Isn’t this shit crazy? I don’t even know what to say,” Monken said.
“As far as I know, he’s had a medical issue that wasn’t allowing him to practice. … I wondered why Lane Kiffin reached out a week ago.
Now I know. I didn’t call him back.
Now I guess I should have.”
Wright, a former Ole Miss tight end, entered the transfer portal on Thursday and has a path to college football that could make him a first in a very strange new wrinkle. Thanks to a temporary restraining order granted in Louisiana in an eligibility case involving Wright and several other players, he can play a fifth season in college football. That opens the door for him to potentially become the first player to appear in the preseason and still end up on a college roster.
For now, Wright is still in Cleveland’s orbit. He dressed but did not play against Buffalo, and if the Browns cut him - as is expected - he would be eligible to sign with a team for the 2026 college football season.
Wright’s football journey has already zigzagged plenty. He spent two seasons at Virginia Tech and two at Ole Miss before entering the 2026 NFL Draft. He went undrafted, was claimed by the Philadelphia Eagles, and eventually surfaced in Cleveland for the preseason.
NFL teams must trim their rosters to 53 players by 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 30.
In Other News...
Ole Miss May Have Found Another Difference Maker Up Front
Ole Miss spent the offseason looking for more answers up front, and Blake Purchase is already giving the Rebels a reason to feel better about that search. The junior defensive end arrived from Oregon and has drawn praise during fall camp, with his early progress showing up in his grasp of the defense and the way he is settling into the rotation Ole Miss wants to build along the line.
Purchase is expected to matter in 2026, when the Rebels open ranked No. 9 in the AP Poll and again have playoff ambitions. For a team trying to stay in the national conversation, adding another speed rusher who is learning the playbook and beginning to look comfortable in it could prove important, even if the biggest test is still ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffin Is Testing A Roster Loophole Ole Miss Fans Know Well
Lane Kiffin is already working the edges of college footballs newest roster wrinkle, and it is one Ole Miss fans know can quickly become part chess match, part arms race. A recent ruling in Louisiana opened the door for certain players, including some who have been in NFL training camps, to regain college eligibility for the 2026 season, creating a path back to the college game that only a few years ago would have seemed far-fetched.
Dae'Quan Wright, a tight end most recently with the Cleveland Browns, was waived and has an agreement to join LSU in 2026 if he clears waivers, and the move has already tied together some familiar coaching circles. Kiffins contact with Browns coach Todd Monken helped set the conversation in motion, but the bigger question now is whether the NCAA and SEC decide to step in and challenge or regulate the transfer before it becomes a precedent other programs try to exploit. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss May Have Found A Secondary Chess Piece In Edwin Joseph
Edwin Joseph arrived in Oxford as a Florida State transfer with the kind of versatility that tends to earn a long look in preseason camp, and Ole Miss has given him one. The Rebels have used Joseph primarily at safety while also testing him at cornerback, a reminder that the staff is still sorting out how best to tap into a player who has lined up in multiple spots in the secondary and even spent time on offense.
Josephs appeal goes beyond simple depth, because Ole Miss values defenders who can shift around without forcing a schematic rewrite. After working back from a pre-existing injury, he turned in a strong summer and caught the attention of coaches before practice ever really got rolling, leaving the Rebels with a useful problem as they keep weighing where his skill set fits best. [Read more 🡒]