Just when Todd Monken, the Cleveland Browns’ new head coach, thought he had seen everything in his first NFL season with the team, a rookie blindsided him with an unprecedented move.
Just as the team was preparing to take on the Buffalo Bills in their second preseason game yesterday, Dae’Quan Wright – Browns tight end– entered the NCAA transfer portal. Despite being in the NFL, the rookie appears to be backtracking just a week after LSU Tigers’ head coach, Lane Kiffin, had reached out to the Cleveland head coach.
“I mean, ain’t this sh-t crazy?” Monken reacted to the development. “…I wondered why Lane Kiffin reached out a week ago. Now, I know. I didn’t call him back. Now, I guess I should have.”
Monken, 60 and a former college football head coach and offensive coordinator himself, is left stunned by the development, especially considering the timing. The 2026 college football season starts next week, on August 29, and this season’s first NFL game is set for September 9. He shared his disbelief in a post-game media session on August 23.
“I mean, 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… And then he was cleared, so we dressed him just in case we had to have him,” he said per an X post by Browns expert Danile Oyefusi.
Wright, who played for the Ole Miss Rebels and the Virginia Tech Hokies, is one of the 16 players who are entering the transfer portal. Their move was made possible after a Louisiana court granted them a temporary injunction.
In his final season, Wright led the Rebels to a college football playoff with 39 receptions and five receiving touchdowns for 635 yards. The Browns are at risk of losing an offensive player who shines under high-pressure moments.
He caught for a touchdown in the Rebels’ SEC victory over South Carolina and another one in their semifinal loss to Miami. For his performance last season, he earned second-team All-SEC honors. The Browns had claimed him off waivers after his initial deal with the Philadelphia Eagles tanked.
Wright is the first NFL player to enter the portal, and his decision comes in favor of Kiffin, his former head coach.
Wright had always been a tough player who wanted to be back on the field despite his injuries. That is one of his qualities Kiffin admired the most.
“He just put himself back in,” Kiffin said after the 34-26 win over the Oklahoma Sooners.
In a recent video, Wright was seen warming up in the Browns kit. It is noteworthy that both Ole Miss players, Wright and Williams, have enrolled in the transfer portal and were undrafted in April.
Other players who entered the portal
In a temporary restraining order granted by a Louisiana court, athletes can return to college for another season. If their respective NFL teams release them by September 1, they can once again join a college roster.
Some of the players who filed the lawsuit were:
- Seattle Seahawks’ running back Anthony Hankerson, former Oregon State player
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ pass rusher Jack Pyburn, former Florida and LSU player
- and Arizona Cardinals’ safety Wydett Williams, also a former Ole Miss player.
Players alleged that the NCAA was infringing its “covenant of good faith” by denying them the opportunity to play for five years like in the past or as others would in the future.
“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,” NCAA senior vice president of external affairs Tim Buckley stated in reply, according to The Athletic.
Currently, out of 33 players, 16 play football and have a shot at another year of college ball. Several NFL teams are on the receiving end of this. On its part, the NCAA has gotten a stay order. However, some local injunction orders remain in place.