Brendan Sorsby enters NFL supplemental draft: How much can he make?

Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby formally abandoned his efforts to continue his college football career by applying for the NFL supplemental draft Tuesday ahead of the June 22 deadline. The lawsuit Sorsby filed against the NCAA that resulted in a temporary injunction restoring his collegiate eligibility last week was dropped in the process. Sorsby has tentatively scheduled a pro day for July 10 at Carroll High School in Southlake, Texas.

The supplemental draft is a secondary draft that can be held each year on or before the seventh day prior to the opening of the first training camp, according to the NFL collective bargaining agreement. With the first training camp expected to open on July 23, the supplemental draft would need to be held no later than July 16. The supplemental draft is typically for players who lose their collegiate eligibility after the mid-January deadline to declare for the regular draft.

The expectation is that the NFL will approve Sorsby’s application for the supplemental draft. The last time the NFL held a supplemental draft was in 2023.

The mechanics of the supplemental draft differ from the regular draft. Draft order is divided into three tiers: (1) teams with six or fewer wins in the prior season, (2) the remaining non-playoff teams and (3) playoff teams. A lottery system determines draft order within each tier. The draft lasts seven rounds, just like the regular draft.

A team interested in selecting a player bids one of its draft picks in the following year on that player. The team submitting the highest pick gets the player. If there are multiple bids in the highest round, the player goes to the team that finished highest in the lottery order among those teams.

The team awarded the player forfeits a corresponding draft pick in the next regular draft. Teams will be giving up a 2027 draft pick to select Sorsby. If he goes undrafted, Sorsby will be free to sign with any of the 32 NFL teams.

The last time a player was selected in a supplemental draft was 2019, when safety Jalen Thompson was taken by the Arizona Cardinals with a fifth-round pick. A quarterback hasn’t been selected since the Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders used a third-round pick on Terrelle Pryor in 2011.

Sorsby is considered by many draft analysts to be a first-round talent. A player hasn’t been taken in the first round of the supplemental draft since Duke quarterback Dave Brown went to the New York Giants in 1992.

It’s unlikely a team will forfeit a first-round pick for Sorsby given the perceived strength of the 2027 quarterback draft class and his sports gambling transgressions. Sorsby made 9,000 bets totaling approximately $90,000 during his four years in college, including 40 bets involving Indiana football when he was a freshman with the Hoosiers in 2022.

The contract Sorsby signs will be equivalent to what the player selected in the same slot in this year’s regular draft received. For example, if the Philadelphia Eagles retained the 22nd spot in the second round for the supplemental draft and selected Sorsby, he would receive a four-year, $8,892,964 contract, like Eli Stowers. Of the $8,892,964, $7,277,752 would be fully guaranteed, including a $2,927,608 signing bonus. The only amount that wouldn’t be guaranteed is $1,615,212 of his $2,097,678 2029 base salary.

Texas Tech signed Sorsby to a $5 million NIL deal for this year. How much of the $5 million Sorsby has actually received is unknown. Many NIL deals are structured with monthly payments beginning upon signing and running for a calendar year. Billionaire Cody Campbell, chairman of the Board of Regents of the Texas Tech University System, has indicated that Texas Tech will not seek reimbursement of any NIL payments already made to Sorsby.

Assuming a monthly payment structure, Sorsby could have already received approximately $2 million from Texas Tech. If that’s the case, Sorsby would need to make another $3 million in 2026 from his NFL contract through his signing bonus and base salary to break even with the NIL deal. This would be accomplished as long as Sorsby goes in the second round. Bud Clark, the final pick of this year’s second round by the Seattle Seahawks, will make a combined $3,074,600 from his signing bonus and 2026 base salary.

With Sorsby collecting roughly half of that deal (around $1 million) because Texas Tech’s payments were suspended after the gambling allegations became known at the end of April, he would be close to breaking even if selected in Stowers’ slot. Stowers has $3,812,608 between his signing bonus and 2026 base salary.

Salary guarantees in NFL contracts typically contain voiding language covering an exhaustive list of player defaults. Most teams specifically include suspensions under the personal conduct policy, substance abuse policy and performance-enhancing substances policy. The gambling suspensions in 2022 and 2023 didn’t lead most teams to insist on a specific reference to the gambling policy as a player default.

Sorsby should expect the guarantee-voiding language tied to player defaults to specifically mention not only gambling suspensions but also any fines under the NFL’s gambling policy. This type of language won’t be necessary in Sorsby’s rookie contract if he is selected after the second round.

Beginning in the third round, the only guaranteed money in rookie contracts has been the signing bonus. As a third-round pick, Sorsby would sign a four-year contract ranging from $7,405,992 total, including a $1,846,176 signing bonus, at the top of the round to $6,726,342 total, including a $1,351,884 signing bonus, at the bottom. 

After the third round, these deals consist of a signing bonus plus four years of league-minimum salaries ($885,000 in 2026, $1.05 million in 2027, $1.165 million in 2028 and $1.28 million in 2029). Fourth-round signing bonuses range from $1,304,700 to $1,012,348 before the compensatory picks begin.

There’s a steep drop in signing bonus money in the fifth round. It is $565,720 at the top of the round and $420,788 for the final pick in the regular draft.

Where Sorsby goes in the supplemental draft and whether his gambling issues impact his draft position remain to be seen.