In case you’ve been living under a rock, Brendan Sorsby, who was presumed to be a first-round pick in the 2027 draft class, transferred to Texas Tech this offseason, but was later found guilty of placing thousands of bets, including some on his own team, back in 2022.

The NCAA wanted to make an example out of Sorsby and never let him play college football again, but a judge overruled them and granted Sorsby a preliminary injunction, which would allow him to play this year. However, after receiving a ton of backlash, Sorsby and Texas Tech decided to part ways, meaning he would not play college football this year.

Everyone thought this meant Sorsby would enter the NFL’s supplemental draft, but on Tuesday morning, the league announced that it would not be holding one this year, meaning Sorsby will now have to wait until the 2027 NFL Draft to get into the league.

This is massive news. One of the top quarterbacks in next year’s class will now not be able to play football for all of 2026, which will likely tank his draft stock. This not only affects the NFL this year, but it also has massive ripple effects in next year’s draft.

Why did the NFL make this decision? Is it fair to Sorsby? And what will this do to next year’s QB class? That’s what we’re going to talk about today.

Why Did the NFL Elect Not to Hold the Supplemental Draft?

Just because the NCAA wasn’t legally allowed to punish Sorsby doesn’t mean the NFL can’t.

According to a report by Ian Rapoport, the NFL didn’t have time to properly investigate Sorsby’s gambling issues before the supplemental draft was held. Just because Sorsby’s actions happened in college doesn’t mean the NFL isn’t going to discipline him, and this could just be step one.

Now, with the supplemental draft not happening, the NFL has ample time to investigate Sorsby’s gambling issues and figure out what’s going to happen. They could decide that cancelling the supplemental draft and making him wait nearly a year to get into the NFL was enough punishment. Or, they could decide that his situation was bad enough that they tack on an extra suspension once he does get into the league.

The NFL is not taking the Sorsby situation lightly. They are going to make sure they take their time investigating and handing him the proper punishment.

Was This the Right Decision?

Was the NFL’s refusal to hold the supplemental draft the right move? It’s hard to tell.

On one hand, Sorsby committed the cardinal sin in sports. If you bet on sports, that’s one thing. If you bet on your own sport, that’s another thing. But to bet on your own team? I don’t care if you’re not playing; you just cannot do that. That opens the door for tampering and throwing games, and there’s just no place for that in sports.

On the other hand, Sorsby was 18 years old when he bet on his own team. Was it still an absolutely boneheaded mistake? Yes, 100 percent. But if everyone were judged on what they did at 18 years old, we’d all be in a much worse place than we’re at right now.

Plus, Sorsby’s betting issues didn’t happen while he was in the NFL. He was in college, and at the time, nobody thought he’d be going to the NFL. He was a backup for Indiana (and this was Indiana before Curt Cignetti got there). The league didn’t even know the kid’s name when he was betting on his own team.

Yes, Sorsby got absolutely and totally screwed. He’s gone to rehab, he split from Texas Tech, and has done everything he needed to in order to enter the supplemental draft and hopefully put all this gambling nonsense behind him. However, in the end, I think making him wait is the right move.

Even though I just gave so many reasons why the NFL shouldn’t punish him, they had to do something. If he entered the supplemental draft, he probably would’ve been suspended anyway. Now, he gets to enter the 2027 draft class and hear his name called on draft night (even if it’s not day one). Plus, he’ll get to go through the NFL Combine and hold his own Pro Day (at least I’m assuming), so teams will get a much better look at him than if he went into the supplemental draft.

It was either going to be this or a suspension for Sorsby, and while it stings right now, this was probably the right decision. And hopefully he’ll see that one day.

How Does This Affect the 2027 Draft Class?

This decision is going to have massive ramifications on the 2027 draft class, even though just a few weeks ago, we all expected Sorsby to be in this draft class anyway.

Three weeks ago, when Sorsby’s injunction was granted, and it looked like he was going to play football in 2026, many thought he’d play well enough to be in first-round conversations. He’s certainly talented enough, and at Texas Tech, he’d get to showcase his skills against some of the best teams in the country, especially come playoff time. Now, though, he won’t be able to put anything on tape before he gets drafted, and will have to rely heavily on old tape and the combine/pro day to show teams what he’s made of.

With Sorsby not playing this year, and potentially having a suspension or some other form of punishment hanging over his head, it’s unlikely that he’ll go in round one of the draft.

Right now, Arch Manning and Dante Moore seem like round one locks, but with Sorsby likely out of the first round equation and multiple teams desperately needing quarterback help, it opens the door for someone like Julian Sayin, CJ Carr, Darian Mensah, and/or Trinidad Chambliss to sneak into the first round.

What it also means is that some team is going to get a first-round talent in the second, third, or maybe even fourth round of the draft. When you turn on Sorsby’s tape, you can see why he was a presumed first-rounder. He’s got the arm, he doesn’t make a ton of bad decisions, and he’s pretty mobile. Someone is going to get a very talented player at a massive discount.

It is going to be fascinating to see where Sorsby ends up in the 2027 draft. Maybe someone ends up scooping him up in the first round based on upside alone, but if he slides into day two, some team is going to get a massive steal.