NFL Confidential: How League Circles Are Reacting To Players Going Back To CFB

Some bizarre NFL and college football history could be made soon, and not everyone's happy about it.

Former Ole Miss tight end Dae'Quan Wright was on track to become the first player to play college football after being rostered by an NFL team following his release from the Cleveland Browns this week.

But as he was set to join head coach Lane Kiffin at LSU, Wright and several other college athletes learned on Tuesday that the SEC would be joining the Big Ten in disallowing players who had already signed an NFL contract from playing in their conferences.

Wright was among 16 former college football players who sued the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility and were granted a temporary restraining order that would allow them to play college football in 2026.

That order allowed opportunistic college head coaches, like Kiffin, to explore adding players signed to NFL contracts to their rosters in recent weeks.

While college head coaches and conference administrators are starting to make their feelings known on the matter, how are people around the NFL reacting to players potentially returning to play the collegiate game? Here's what we learned from some of our conversations with people around the league.

Ralph Vacchiano: The recent news that some NFL players will potentially be allowed to return to college football this season did not go over well in NFL circles.

And it only added to their confusion over what is currently happening in the NCAA.

"They really have to get their s--- together," one NFL scout told me.

"It feels like they’re the Wild Wild West and the rules are changing every day." The recent one could be the most confusing.

It was sparked by court rulings in Colorado and Louisiana that appear to allow NFL players who entered college in 2022 to return to school for a fifth year of eligibility in the NCAA.

To add to the confusion, the Big Ten went against the courts and banned players from returning from the NFL.

The SEC announced it opposed the rulings, but wouldn’t stand in the players’ way.

It’s unclear if any other conferences will join the Big Ten and the SEC.