NFL warns clubs they cannot sign any player who returns to college football for 2026 season, memo says

As the college landscape continues through a whirlwind of uncertainty, the NFL reiterated to its clubs on Wednesday that any player returning to college ranks will be prohibited from signing with a team this season.

Multiple players in various sports are trying to return to college athletics despite going professional, which has led to quite the stir for the NCAA. Among them is tight end Dae’Quan Wright, who cleared waivers after being released by the Cleveland Browns this week.

Wright was expected to sign with LSU, where he would reunite with his old Ole Miss coach, Lane Kiffin.

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The league issued a memo, obtained by ESPN, that reiterated rules already in place saying any player signed to an NFL contract who is subsequently cut will be a free agent. While that player can sign with another NFL club or join the CFL, if they return to college, they will not be available for this season.

Furthermore, any player cut by an NFL team who returns to college for the 2026 season will still be considered a free agent and won’t be able to put their name into a future NFL Draft.

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Other than Wright, Zxavian Harris, who was cut by the New Orleans Saints, is also expected to sign with Kiffin at LSU. He and Wright were teammates during Ole Miss’ College Football Playoff run last season, where Kiffin ultimately took the LSU vacancy mid-season after the firing of Brian Kelly.

Both Wright and Harris received a temporary restraining order that allows them to return to college football, granting them an extra year of eligibility.

But hours after Wright cleared waivers, he and the rest of the college football world saw the SEC and Big Ten, which will soon be joined by the ACC and Big 12, create new guidelines for eligibility that would prevent players like Wright who have participated in professional sports from reentering college athletics.

Under the new policies set by the SEC and Big Ten, any athlete that has signed with a pro team in the NFL, declared for the NFL Draft or participated in any type of professional training camp will be ineligible for conference competition.

Attorney Ryan Downton, who represents a number of players trying to get back into the college landscape, told OutKick’s Trey Wallace on Tuesday night that they are currently "working on a legal strategy" on how to move forward against both the NCAA and the respective conferences that enacted the new guidelines.

"The SEC’s actions put the NCAA in contempt of multiple court orders," Downton told OutKick-Fox News on Tuesday night. "It is cartel-like conduct when NCAA conferences attempt to create their own spur of the moment rules in response to Courts enjoining those same rules at the NCAA level."