Dorothy

Cleveland Browns tight end and former Ole Miss playmaker Dae'Quan Wright is reportedly heading to the NCAA transfer portal.

The Philadelphia Eagles signed tight end Dae'Quan Wright as an undrafted free agent in April, but waived him in August – the Cleveland Browns signed the soon-to-be 23-year-old the next day. Wright played for Virginia Tech in 2022 and 2023 before transferring to Ole Miss for the next two years: his top season came as a senior, when he pulled in 39 receptions in 15 games for 635 yards with five touchdowns.

Former Oregon State running back Anthony Hankerson (Seattle Seahawks), former Florida and LSU pass rusher Jack Pyburn (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and ex-Mississippi starters Dae’Quan Wright (Cleveland Browns) and Wydett Williams (Arizona Cardinals) are on NFL rosters and were part of the lawsuit.

On July 31, a federal court in Denver ruled that all high school class of 2022 athletes who exhausted their fourth season of college eligibility this spring are eligible for a fifth season this academic year.

Earlier this summer, on July 31, the floodgates opened in college sports after Judge Charlotte Sweeney of the U.S. District Court of Colorado to declare athletes from the high school class of 2022. That means athletes who exhausted four seasons of eligibility this spring -- and thought their college career ended -- would be eligible for the upcoming season.

NFL teams are deep into training camp, and rosters have to be cut to 53 players by Aug. 30. Many who don’t make those clubs could look for a fallback plan in college football, barring a successful appeal by the NCAA.

This Louisiana TRO has created a time-sensitive window for players who are in NFL training camps or on the cut bubble. NFL teams will trim their final rosters to 53 players on Aug. 30, which could create opportunities for released players to play college football during the 2026 season on a NIL or revenue share contract.

That decision came a little more than a month after the NCAA passed a rule that gives athletes five years to complete five seasons of competition, starting with those who enroll in the fall of 2027. The Colorado ruling eliminated the waiting period. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The injunction came on the heels of the new five-for-five eligibility model, which gives athletes across all sports five years to play five seasons. Before the injunction was granted in Colorado, there were a handful of cases nationwide that would give athletes an extra year of eligibility.

“The lawyers bringing these cases seemingly won’t be satisfied until every professional athlete can treat college sports as a fallback option, regardless of the opportunities it strips from those who will never have a chance to begin their collegiate sports experience.”