In an unprecedented turn of events, Cleveland Browns rookie tight end Dae’Quan Wright has officially entered the NCAA transfer portal. However, Wright could have a costly trade-off on his hands, whether he knows it or not. He is currently under an active NFL contract with the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent, and the only reason his collegiate return has become a possibility is that a controversial court ruling opened that door.

“Cleveland Browns tight end Dae’Quan Wright has entered the college transfer portal, @chris_hummer and I have learned,” Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports broke the news on X. “The former Ole Miss star is currently on the Browns’ roster.”

In June, the NCAA changed its eligibility rules to allow athletes to play for five seasons within a strict five-year timespan. This window begins either when they first enroll in college or in the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever comes first. The NCAA designed the new rule to eliminate most of the waivers players previously received to extend their college sports careers due to injuries or other circumstances.

But a Louisiana judge granted a temporary restraining order against the NCAA’s new eligibility clock. And it came because of 16 plaintiffs, including Wright, Wydett Williams, and Anthony Hankerson. They argued that the new rule should apply to them retroactively because they were eligible to play a fifth year in 2026. It’s worth noting that all three of them were on active NFL rosters. But the temporary restraining order has now allowed these players to seek a fifth year of college football as the lawsuit plays out in court. 

Meanwhile, the NCAA has pushed back against the ruling. NCAA’s senior vice president of external affairs, Tim Buckley, argued that these legal interventions are wreaking havoc on the sport’s infrastructure. 

“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,” Buckley said in a statement (via ESPN). “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.”

For Wright, returning to college offers a chance to rewrite the ending of a strong amateur career. During his time at Virginia Tech, Wright caught 47 passes for 574 yards. He later moved to Ole Miss and added 1,029 receiving yards to his record. Wright even earned second-team All-SEC honors at Ole Miss. However, he went undrafted in the 2026 NFL Draft.

He initially signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent. But after the team waived him, he joined the Browns. Now, it’s a question of where Wright will end up. Is Ole Miss still an option for him?

Ole Miss Head Coach Clears Stance on Adding 2022 High School Class

Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding addressed the possibility of adding players from the 2022 high school class earlier this summer. Though the ruling revolved around the players who had exhausted their original four-year window and hadn’t signed a professional contract, Golding’s stance could apply here as well.

“There’s no new additions and umbrellas like they did with COVID or anything like that,” Golding said (via SI). “Yes, obviously there was conversations with a couple of those guys from 2022 that are in other camps. “Kind of talking what’s the health of those guys? What’s the status? What’s that look like? But more from a standpoint of if somebody was to get injured during camp and something became available, then you’d have a body to go to that’s actually been in this system and all those type of things.”

There are four players with injuries from the offseason/last season that the team needs to keep an eye on: DE Jordan Renaud (lower body), safetys Edwin Joseph (undisclosed) and Joenel Aguero (undisclosed), and WR Jase Matthews (Left knee ACL). However, Golding emphasized that the Rebels’ roster has carved out as per expectations, and there aren’t any concerns yet. Nevertheless, he left the door open should the team suffer attrition before the season begins.

“Our numbers are what they are right now, and we’re where we need to be, but definitely there’s been conversations in case something was to occur that we would need to go that direction,” he added.

Considering Golding’s stance, it is less likely that Dae’Quan Wright will be welcomed back on the Rebels roster. Moreover, the 22-year-old Brown TE has to ask himself if getting more playtime in college is worth risking the loss of an NFL contract already in hand.