The NFL just made it crystal clear: players who leave the league to go back to college won’t be allowed to return to the NFL this season. Troy Vincent, an NFL executive, reiterated this longstanding policy at the league’s meetings on Wednesday, confirming that any player trying that move is ineligible for 2026 and would instead hit the free agent market in 2027. This isn’t just some casual chat, either; it’s a huge policy declaration that’s shaking things up big time for some guys.
College Conferences Draw a Line in the Sand
This NFL announcement didn’t happen in a vacuum, no way. It came right after some of the biggest college conferences started making their own rules. The Southeastern and Big Ten conferences already banned players who were on NFL rosters from coming back to play at their schools. And get this: the Atlantic Coast and Big 12 conference leaders were debating the exact same thing this week, with Big 12 athletic directors reportedly agreeing to ban professional athletes from returning to schools within the conference in *all sports*. So, it’s not just football, it’s a blanket ban from the Big 12. The NFL even sent a memo to all its teams about eligibility for athletes who sign player contracts, noting that players whose NFL contracts are terminated by their club *can* return to college, subject to NCAA rules. Talk about a complex web of regulations!
Players Fight for Eligibility and NIL
So, who’s actually caught in the middle of this mess? We’re talking about players like tight end Dae’Quan Wright and defensive lineman Zxavian Harris. Wright signed with Philadelphia as an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi, then got waived by the Eagles, claimed by Cleveland, spent a couple of weeks there, and was waived again. Now he wants to go to LSU to play for his old Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin. Harris, another undrafted free agent out of Ole Miss, signed with New Orleans, did the offseason program, but got placed on the non-football injury list and was waived. He also wants to play for Kiffin at LSU.
Both of these guys initially went into the NFL draft because they had maxed out their four years of eligibility. The NCAA actually changed a rule in June, allowing players who started college in 2023 or later to get five years of eligibility for five years of sports. But guess what? That rule doesn’t apply to Wright and Harris, who started in 2022. They’re not just taking this lying down, though. These players are part of a lawsuit against the NCAA, arguing they’re being deprived of education and potential NIL financial benefits by being left out of that rule change. You can see why they’re fired up. Cal football general manager Ron Rivera even weighed in, saying he hopes the ACC joins the Big Ten and SEC in turning away former pros. This whole situation is far from over, with players fighting for their eligibility and conferences drawing lines in the sand. What’s gonna happen next in this college-pro battle? We’ll be watching.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
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