Dae’Quan Wright’s football journey just took a wild turn that nobody saw coming. The former Ole Miss tight end was simply trying to secure a spot in the NFL with the $6.4 billion Cleveland Browns. He even suited up for their preseason game last weekend. Now, he is walking away from the pros to make college football history.

The Browns officially waived Wright on Sunday, opening the door for a deal already in place with LSU. If he clears NFL waivers, Wright becomes the very first player in modern history to sign an NFL contract, participate in an NFL training camp/preseason, and then return to play college football. He never played a regular-season snap in the pros, but he got his foot in the door.

Dae’Quan Wright went undrafted in 2026 and signed with the Philadelphia Eagles on May 1. The Eagles released him Aug. 10, as Cleveland claimed him off waivers the following day. A few days later, Wright was warming up in a Browns uniform. A few days after the Louisiana ruling, he hit the transfer portal. 

Lane Kiffin didn’t need much convincing. He already knew the tight end. Wright then spent two years at Ole Miss under Kiffin, posting 1,029 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in 66 catches.

Lane Kiffin is now at LSU. Former Ole Miss OC Charlie Weis Jr. is there too. The system Dae’Quan Wright played in at Ole Miss has essentially followed the coaching staff to Baton Rouge. And as Browns coach Todd Monken revealed, this has been a plan in motion even before anyone knew about it. 

“Man, ain’t that s— crazy?” he said. “I wondered why Lane Kiffin reached out a week ago. Now I know.” 

The strange part isn’t really Dae’Quan Wright returning to college. It’s figuring out whether the NCAA and SEC will let him do it. He is one of roughly 30 athletes, including 16 football players, involved in a lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s eligibility rules. 

A Louisiana judge granted a temporary restraining order that could give the Class of 2022 athletes another season of eligibility. And this particular case matters because it includes players who had already signed NFL contracts. That is how Dae’Quan Wright ended up with a path back to college after entering the professional ranks.

What makes Wright’s move so surreal is that modern football has zero precedent for it. While other sports like baseball allow undrafted players to return to campus, signing an active NFL contract always meant burning your college bridge permanently.

Wright isn’t alone in this legal fight, as fellow NFL rookies Anthony Hankerson and Jack Pyburn were also named in the lawsuit. But by entering the portal while sitting on an active NFL roster, Wright became the test case, breaking completely uncharted ground.

But there is another problem sitting on LSU’s doorstep before Wright can make his return.

Lane Kiffin’s LSU still has an SEC hurdle to clear

The SEC has rules restricting transfers between conference schools. Commissioner Greg Sankey recently reminded schools that those rules remain in effect despite the ongoing eligibility lawsuits. Several SEC programs believe those restrictions may not survive a court challenge, and LSU appears ready to test that theory.

As Chris Hummer reported, “LSU has been aggressive behind the scenes in its belief it can skirt the SEC’s intraconference transfer rules.”

The conference declined to comment when CBS Sports asked whether those rules still applied under the Louisiana court order. 

“We believe the order should allow players to transfer within the conference, but have reached out to the SEC to discuss,” Dae’Quan Wright’s attorney, Ryan Downton said. 

There’s still a lot to untangle here. The Colorado ruling was put on hold by a federal appeals court, but that doesn’t cancel the separate court orders other players received. Dae’Quan Wright’s Louisiana case is still standing. If he gets through waivers and the legal stuff, LSU shouldn’t feel like a new world to him. He already knows Lane Kiffin, the offense, and the people running it. The weird part is how he got back there in the first place.