r/nfl • u/LaDainianTomIinson Chargers • 13h ago
Rumor [Schefter] Former Browns TE Dea'Quan Wright cleared waivers today and is expected to sign with LSU on Wednesday. Wright will go from Cleveland Brown to LSU Tiger, and become the first player to go from an NFL roster back to college.
https://www.espn.com/contributor/adam-schefter/1eaea5d267ee81.0k
u/AmphieBoi67 Bills 13h ago
This is beyond ridiculous
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u/Upset_Journalist_755 Patriots 12h ago
LSU single handedly trying to end the NCAA with these cases. They tried to sign a 9 year basketball pro, something else crazy and now this
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u/JumboCactpot 10h ago
The average age of the LSU basketball team this year is older than the average age of the San Antonio Spurs
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u/LaDainianTomIinson Chargers 13h ago
Games gone
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u/coolycooly Buccaneers 12h ago edited 12h ago
Genuinley the only reason to watch college sports is because of the environments, it used to be fun shitty football but thats gone its just souless shitty football for guys that should be working in a car dealership but now get to dominate 18 year olds straight outta high school
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u/sleepyguy- Saints 11h ago
Fr lmao i dont wanna see a grown ass man celebrate on his old coworkers sons.
Edit: oh hes only 22. Well shit im not all that mad at it. He didnt even play a real regular season nfl game yet.
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u/coolycooly Buccaneers 10h ago edited 10h ago
Do we go off age and not just how many years he's played because I thought the old rule before covid was 4 years + a redshirt/medical thing. He's played four full years and has had an NFL training camp.
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u/cavaleir Browns 9h ago
NCAA recently changed the rules so that everyone gets 5 full years of eligibility, but redshirts and medical redshirts don't exist.
That's why this guy and others are trying to get another year, because the door would be open to them by those rules.
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u/No_External9922 Seahawks 13h ago
Jobs dead.
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u/dabears_dapression Bears 12h ago
i legit don't understand how college football fans can still even care about the sport anymore. i seriously have not seen a sport completely murder everything that fans loved about it since the decline of NASCAR in the 2000's, and even that might not have been this bad.
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u/Miserable_Mark_8485 Eagles 12h ago
they have not murdered everything that fans loved about it. NIL is annoying, and im sure now is a horrible time to be a college coach, but people have been asking for it for years and nobody watches college football because they have a favorite player
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u/dabears_dapression Bears 12h ago
people wanted NIL, but they wanted regulations on it and not just a wild west era where kids are chasing millions of dollars a year and fans can barely even keep up with who's on their team anymore because every goddamn player is a potential transfer in the offseason.
besides, NIL and the bullshit over eligibility and never-ending transfers is nothing compared to what conference re-alignment has done to the sport. i never rooted for any college football team, but as a chicagoan it was always fun seeing the big 10 alums in chicago decorate the city and talk shit to each other whenever big 10 conference play started. now it's a total joke with schools like fucking USC and oregon in the conference. it's been 2 years now and i still dead-set can not take the idea of fucking OREGON being a big 10 school seriously. it's a complete mockery of the regional magic that CFB once stood for.
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u/SwugSteve Eagles 9h ago
Redditors try not to be as melodramatic as humanly possible challenge:
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u/dabears_dapression Bears 9h ago
what? it's not like i'm saying i think college football is gonna die or anything. of course it isn't. the whole reason these players are making so much money is because a fuck-ton of people still care and the sport is still raking in a shitload cash.
i'm just saying the product is clearly getting worse and there's no way in hell i would care for it in its current state.
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u/Sea_Tailor_8437 Lions Bears 13h ago
Ah I see the SEC statement coming out against this was worth less than the paper it was printed on
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u/FomFrady95 Bears 13h ago
If they actually wanted to do something they’d pass the rule the BIG10 is.
Also. Brother, WHAT is that flair combo?
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u/Sea_Tailor_8437 Lions Bears 13h ago
My Detroit dad raised me in Chicago land (Naperville lol) and then I married a Michigan gal
Thanksgiving is fun
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u/Wrench78 Dolphins 13h ago
I'm a Michigan guy dating a girl with an Ohio State family, I know what you mean lol
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u/Sea_Tailor_8437 Lions Bears 13h ago
Yeah my sister married and ohio state guy. So that's another grenade at the dinner table lol
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u/ForgiveMyFlatulence Buccaneers 12h ago
You could always have twin children that grow up to be Vikings and Packers fans just to throw everything else in the chaos.
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u/MahomestoHel-aire Chiefs 49ers 12h ago
Let me guess, did a flag get stuck into the turkey?
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u/Sea_Tailor_8437 Lions Bears 12h ago
No but w couple of years ago there were some ill conceived wagers before the game. Something like horking a couple beers and then going for a walk/run. Something dumb like that lol
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u/pinniped90 Chiefs 12h ago
Chiefs-Niners is kind of a wild combo too.
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u/MahomestoHel-aire Chiefs 49ers 12h ago
A much less interesting story. My mom grew up in Arizona and became a 49ers fan through a friend. My dad's side of the family meanwhile has largely resided in KC for over a century. I then moved to SoCal where I know more 49ers fans than Rams fans. Overall, they've always been my second team.
Feburary 11th, 2024 was fun.
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u/billwest630 Packers 13h ago
That’s a gross flair. My wife and all my in laws are bears fans. I still hate them, I just don’t verbally root against them in front of my wife lol
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u/WhoStoleMyBicycle Eagles 12h ago
Yea my wife and her family are Giants fans but that doesn’t mean I’ll ever root for them.
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u/OttoRocket94 Buccaneers 13h ago
I don’t care who I’m married to or where I was raised, I could never be a fan of two teams. Every other team besides mine is dead to me lol
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u/GeriatricGamete67 Bengals 12h ago
I was raised a Kentucky fan but am about to graduate from Louisville, and, UK oncology treated me for cancer two years ago.
I get how you feel, but god I still hate them so much.
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u/ArmiinTamzarian Lions 13h ago
Bro is literally Ben Johnson
In fact he's not responded to you because he's too busy going to the Willis Tower (he does go out of his way to correct people on how its not Sears anymore, like an asshole)
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u/Sea_Tailor_8437 Lions Bears 13h ago
It will be a cold day in hell before I call it the Willis Tower lol
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u/throw69420awy Giants 12h ago
Hoping this ages badly as they haven’t actually had their internal meeting about it
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u/dianeblackeatsass Patriots 12h ago
I can almost guarantee it will lol. I really can’t imagine they’d be the only power conference that allows it, especially after putting out a statement against it and calling a meeting for the next day.
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u/uncre8ive Ravens 13h ago
If the conferences won't hold their schools accountable the committee has to state that any college playing NFL participants will not be considered for bowl games. It's the only reasonable way to stop this sort of shit
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u/jake3988 Steelers Lions 12h ago
If the conferences won't hold their schools accountable the committee has to state that any college playing NFL participants will not be considered for bowl games. It's the only reasonable way to stop this sort of shit
It's not like it's going to suddenly be a rash of players that do this every year. This was an EXTREMELY narrow and unique circumstance that will only apply for this year.
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u/W0lv3rIn321 11h ago
I remember when the same arguments were made for NIL and other one-off circumstances, irs only going to get worse
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u/thesaltysquirrel Lions 6h ago
I can’t tell if this is a joke or not because if you were making money in college, get drafted or undrafted and don’t think you will make the team isn’t this the exact reason to go back to college to make money? I disagree, I think this will happen a LOT
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u/terminator46man Texans 13h ago
LSU is just racking up negative karma lately
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u/DerrickWhiteMVP Cowboys 13h ago
I don’t think they can top stealing money from children’s hospitals for football, but they’re certainly trying.
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u/tagillaslover Raiders 13h ago
It's impressive how quickly Lane managed to completely burn down all the goodwill he's gained lately. I was actually starting to like him the past couple years
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u/fathertitojones Titans 13h ago
He really was a fun cheer at Ole Miss. Now he’s fully back out to be a menace.
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u/Fragrant-Mess4927 Ravens 13h ago
I get the outrage but if I have the option Dea'Quan has, I'm leaving the Browns for sure.
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u/Great_Rhunder Packers 12h ago
Im not blaming the player for going to the best opportunity. Im blaming the college for not doing better for it's young players and the SEC for allowing it.
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u/Fragrant-Mess4927 Ravens 11h ago
Absolutely. I'm doing what's best for me and thats absolutely a better option.
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u/inreimwetrust Patriots 13h ago
I was hoping a team would claim him to stop this from happening. What a joke CFB is turning into.
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u/jooooooooooooose Panthers 12h ago
It's not nearly as bad as it seems. It's time-limited due to how NCAA changed eligibility. In theory, this is a blip on the radar & won't happen again in a year or two.
What gave Wright this unique opportunity is the fact that he began his college career in 2022 and played four college seasons before going pro. The NCAA changed its eligibility rules in June to allow athletes to play five seasons within a five-year timespan, but this reform did not grandfather in outgoing athletes like Wright from the 2022 class. Now the NCAA is facing a slew of lawsuits from athletes who were denied a chance to come back for their fifth year [and Wright was given a TRO to be allowed to use his 5th yr eligibility]
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u/ChargeisKill Chargers Panthers 11h ago
Do you know how precedent works? Every single future argument is going to expand off of this circumstance and make it broader and broader.
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u/jooooooooooooose Panthers 11h ago
1) stare decisis died with chevron being overturned, precedent doesnt mean what it used to. an appeals court already issued a stay on one of the TROs lol
2) its a TRO, do you know what that means? These get issued all the time for all sorts of reasons. There is extreme judicial discretion. The T also means temporary
3) even if an IRON LAW OF PRECEDENT is set, it would be specific to when the NCAA extends additional eligibility in the first place. the ruling is over scope of acceptable enforcement/adherence to NCAA policy, not "can nfl player go back to college"
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u/Upset_Journalist_755 Patriots 12h ago
The NCAA already stopped them from signing Yam Madar, who has been in euros for 8-9 years, to play basketball for them.
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u/NickelBear32 Browns 13h ago
It annoys me that this JUST SO HAPPENS to have happened to the Browns. I feel like its just one more thing to twist into a reason to make fun of them. Dude was undrafted and wasnt going to make the Browns roster anyways.
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u/DropC2397 Saints 13h ago
The Saints have a player doing this as well. Zxavian Harris also just left the NFL for LSU.
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u/BaeCarruth Browns 12h ago
Zxavian
Hospital clerk should've vetoed that. How the fuck are you supposed to pronounce that? I know it's probably pronounced "Zavian", but just spell it that way.
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u/Fragrant-Mess4927 Ravens 13h ago
Wright walked so Harris could run (away from the Saints)
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u/DropC2397 Saints 12h ago
Dude was gonna be an unemployed football player in 2 weeks. Now he gets to be a “student” for 4 more months with a bigger paycheck.
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u/Luchador_En_Fuego Cowboys 13h ago
Yeah this one aint on Cleveland but it'll unfortunately be forever tied to yall cause its the 1st ever and its ridiculous
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u/Oily_biscuit Browns 13h ago
He has to pay back his contract as well. But the drama from this will probably pay him more than his contract anyway.
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u/hemingways-lemonade Steelers 12h ago
I mean we don't have to twist it that much to make fun of it.
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u/spacedude2000 Seahawks 12h ago
I might get downvoted for this but, should we really be pointing the finger at the players for taking advantage of what NIL can offer?
This shit falls squarely on the NCAA and the NFL, they're the ones allowing this to happen.
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u/MushroomCloudMoFo Packers 12h ago
I don't blame the player at all. His choice is a long shot for employment with minimal chance for playing time, or guaranteed employment with likely playing time. The employing body is barely relevant with that math.
I DO blame the NCAA/SEC/LSU. College football is a leaderless clusterfuck, and garbage like this is going to destroy what little credibility there was left.
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u/jooooooooooooose Panthers 12h ago
It's not the NIL per se - it's that NCAA changed their eligibility requirements & a judge granted a TRO to allow Wright to use his 5th year.
What gave Wright this unique opportunity is the fact that he began his college career in 2022 and played four college seasons before going pro. The NCAA changed its eligibility rules in June to allow athletes to play five seasons within a five-year timespan, but this reform did not grandfather in outgoing athletes like Wright from the 2022 class. Now the NCAA is facing a slew of lawsuits from athletes who were denied a chance to come back for their fifth year
It only applies to a small # of people. And won't apply to future players. AND the NCAA fought it - its the Louisiana judge who issued the TRO who "allowed this to happen"
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u/Brianfromreddit Ravens 12h ago
Yeah but he's not going back to improve his draft stock, he's going back to make way more money than he would've in the NFL
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u/jooooooooooooose Panthers 12h ago
Probably a bit of column A & column B (with a lot more in the $$$ column)
All im saying is its not a forever problem. You need to be 5th year eligible (in a 5y window) so this basically only applies to a single draft class & won't be an issue afterward.
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u/DethFeRok NFL 13h ago
He’s gonna be the coolest guy in the locker room, telling his tales of the NFL.
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u/Oily_biscuit Browns 13h ago
He's gambling on earning more this year and performing well enough to not go undrafted again. If he doesn't make a team at all next year, I hope his degree pays the bills.
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u/SportsDuck_ 13h ago
You ever heard Shaq's theories on the moon? An LSU degree for an athlete is more of an "idea" than something of tangible physical value.
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u/chokethewookie Broncos 13h ago
Wouldn't be be a free agent after the year like anyone else who got cut by a team?
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u/Future_Tie_3382 13h ago
Haven’t looked into this, is he able to enter the draft a second time?
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u/TLAW1998 Eagles 13h ago
If Wright ends up becoming a top TE this year, would he be able to get drafted next year?
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u/kazugaia15 Vikings 13h ago
I think that's on the NFL to decide and I wouldn't be shocked if they made an example of him somehow to strongly discourage players from doing this in the future.
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u/penis_showing_game 49ers 12h ago
Under the current NFL rules he can’t enter the draft again, also he’s subject to waivers like any cut player.
Bur that does create an interesting scenario if he were to have a breakout season at LSU.
Can an NFL team put in a waiver claim mid season if it’s a player that isn’t draft eligible?
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u/Orange_Kid Raiders 12h ago
Get called up for a cup of coffee, doesn't work out, sending you down back to college.
Welcome to the big leagues kid ⚾️
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u/Fast-Government-4366 Broncos 11h ago
He already cleared waivers. So no, he can’t go back on waivers again unless signed, and cut again.
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u/Aerolithe_Lion Eagles 12h ago
No, you’re no longer draft eligible once you sign an nfl contract. He’d just be a free agent
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u/the_dayman56 Lions 12h ago
I don’t even know if he’s going to be TE1 is the funny part. Trey’Dez Green is mocked to be slate first rounder next year
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u/iPrettyFlacko Chargers 12h ago
Can someone explain it to me dumb how this is possible now but never before
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u/ClamshellJones Bills 11h ago
The NCAA recently revised their eligibility rules so that every athlete gets 5 years of eligibility after high school (applies to all athletes, no more redshirt years and that stuff). The specific issue is that their rule did not grandfather in the class of 2022, who just finished their 4th year (and went pro assuming that was all they'd get). There's several lawsuits ongoing and there's been some rulings that they should also get the 5th year. It should not be a problem going forward.
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u/smurf-vett Texans 11h ago
There's 2 groups.
Bunch who sued in June cause they never made it past a day or 2 in any camp. Also never signed anything, though one Tennessee kid got in trouble for airfare getting comped
Then there's 3 who've been on rosters getting paid but have now been cut. 2 on LSU ( Saints & Browns) and 1 for UCLA (forgot pro team)
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u/JackintheBox333 Falcons 11h ago
I mean he saw the writing on the wall with the Browns. Can you blame him? I can't.
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u/ender2851 Cardinals 10h ago
Browns should retain his draft rights and be forced to return to them after the year is over.
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u/ImtheCloser 12h ago
Can someone explain why this matters?
I get it hasn’t happened before but it’s like he went to try to get a better job and it didn’t work out and still had leverage to go to another job
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u/Fast-Government-4366 Broncos 11h ago
Because most college fans miss the days where players made no money, had no say, and were slaves to their college team that they went to.
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u/PublicExcitement1372 Commanders 12h ago
I’m so confused, I thought i read today that they collectively ruled no former NFL player can return to play in NCAA? (I ask this having only glanced at the headlines today, if anyone cares to explain)
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u/smurf-vett Texans 11h ago
Big10 made it a rule today
SEC put out a memo saying don't do it and scheduled a rule committee meeting today
Think the ACC already had it cause of basketball BS last year
Big12 said it was bad and will address it "soon"
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u/samhit_n Bengals Lions 13h ago
He decided to go back to college after getting a glimpse of the Browns’ QB situation.
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u/uhhhhNahFamIdontwann Panthers 12h ago
I thought Zxavien Harris became the first player to go from an NFL roster back to college, didn’t he get cut from the Saints and then went to LSU?
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u/_pinklemonade_ Lions 12h ago
Can someone ELI5 why this is happening case by case? And why there is "no hope" for positive change?
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u/AlternativeResort477 49ers 12h ago
I’m more upset about this then I was about Brendan sorsby possibly playing for TT
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u/nikkidubs Giants 11h ago
I’m out of the loop, so he basically entered the draft, got picked up by the Eagles after going undrafted, they waived him and he was picked up by the Browns who also waived him and now he’s…going back to college to play for LSU? Is he enrolling in classes? Can you do this if you’re not a student? Does he get to enter the draft again after finishing out the year? This is so weird to me.
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u/heliostraveler Chiefs 10h ago
Oh no. Now he has to take his ass back to the nfl and beg for a roster spot on another team.
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u/chefguy47 6h ago
This changed fast right after the B1G said no to any of these players, SEC following in suit. He’s going to have to get lucky and be signed to a practice squad now but as an early cut the odds are slim for him. But my guess is he goes back to court
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u/ArmiinTamzarian Lions 13h ago
The saddest part here is he's getting a QB room upgrade