History-making Browns star to be waived by Cleveland and join LSU in unprecedented and ‘crazy’ move

Wait 5 sec.

The Cleveland Browns are waiving tight end Dae’Quan Wright, and he has an agreement in place to play for LSU this season.Wright has an agreement in place for the 2026 season to play for LSU, where he likely has a lucrative NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deal in place, if he clears waivers.Wright isn’t expecting to make the Browns’ rosterGettyOnce upon a time, a player leaving the NFL to go back to the NCAA would have been deemed unthinkable.However, Wright is now set to become the first player ever to play in the NFL‘s preseason and return to a college roster after he and several others were granted a temporary restraining order against the NCAA for a fifth year of eligibility in a landmark legal ruling.“I think it’s likely to happen, as his agent, because we don’t currently project him to make the Browns,” Wright’s agent Drew Rosenhaus previously told the Pat McAfee Show. “He’s really low on the depth chart.“I would expect him to be cut on or before Aug. 30. Then he could go back into the draft next year when he’s healthier.“This is crazy. This could be the first player to play in the NFL with an NFL team through the Combine and training camp and go play collegiately.”View Tweet: https://x.com/hashtag/browns?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwMonken agrees with the ‘crazy’ part.“Man, isn’t this s*** crazy?” he said after a preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills. “I don’t even know what to say.“As far as I know, he’s had a medical issue that wasn’t allowing him to practice. That’s a medical issue. It has nothing to do with me. “He was cleared, so we dressed him just in case we had to have him.”Former LSU tackle Breiden Fehoko posted on social media: “I am an LSU guy and I have absolutely no respect for this BS. This is just straight up [expletive] made [expletive]. What are we doing???”Wright previously signed with the Philadelphia Eagles before being cut and joining the Browns. He didn’t appear in either of Cleveland’s first two preseason games.LSU head coach Lane Kiffin is interested having already worked with him in his spell with Ole Miss.Kiffin is casting his net wideGettyWright has struggled with injury over the offseasonGetty“I don’t know what to say. I wondered why Lane Kiffin reached out to me a week ago, now I know,” Monken added. “I didn’t call him back; I guess I should have.”NFL players can return to collegeLouisiana’s 19th Judicial District Court granted a temporary restraining order on Wednesday.It paved the way for 30 former college athletes, including 16 football players, to return “so long as they terminate any such contract and repay any money they have received prior to playing in a collegiate game.”“We are asking all courts to put the players back where they would have been if the NCAA had made the rule change earlier,” the athletes’ attorney Ryan Downton, said.“So, had these guys known they were going to be eligible this year, they would not have signed with agents, signed non-guaranteed deals or participated in training camp.“In our view, as long as they can get a release from their contracts and give any money back, they should be permitted to play.”NFL Weekly Newsletter - SIGN UP!talkSPORT is your home for NFL in the UK as we launch our biggest year of coverage yet!2026 promises to be an epic year for NFL on talkSPORT – and we want you to join us for the ride.MORE INFO & SIGN-UP HERE!This season will be our biggest ever with live commentary of 90+ games, including behind-the-scenes access to international games and all three London fixtures, plus bumper coverage of Super Bowl 61 at SoFi Stadium.Exclusive interviews, hard-hitting opinion, latest front-office drama and top breaking news – all delivered straight to your inbox each week.The NCAA is desperate to fight the continued erosion of its rules.“Courts across the country granting relief to ineligible athletes who already had every opportunity to compete in college — sometimes without even having a hearing — are failing to appreciate the destabilizing effect their rulings are having on college sports,” said its senior vice president of external affairs Tim Buckley.“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.”