Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels believed the No. 5 he wore for the LSU Tigers wouldn’t be given to anyone else after he came to the NFL in 2024. But when his alma mater opened its preseason practice last week, sophomore cornerback DJ Pickett was seen wearing the number. Pickett took this as a sign of great disrespect and decided to take legal action against LSU – but not for his jersey number.

Daniels’ attorney, Adam Kenner, Esq., sent a cease-and-desist letter to Tigers athletic director Verge Ausberry. Many believed the notice was to stop Pickett from donning Daniels’ number, but per a picture of the notice shared by NFL insider Mark Garafolo on X, the legal notice only pertains to Daniels’ NIL.

“There’s nothing in the letter about LSU using the No. 5 jersey,” Garafolo wrote. “There’s no legal claim to the number itself. The communication is solely about Jayden Daniels’ NIL.”

While the notice is only against Daniels’ NIL, the timing of it all coincides with the jersey snub. His attorney, Adam Kenner, Esq., has pointed out that under the terms of LSU’s contract with Daniels, they could only use his name and likeness for 180 days after he’s played his last snap. That’s the case for the cease and desist against LSU.

“Accordingly, LSU must immediately cease and desist from any further issue use, display, publication, distribution, promotion, commercialization, or other exploitation of Mr. Daniels’ NIL in any manner or medium,” Kenner wrote in his cease and desist letter. “Any use of Mr. Daniels’ NIL occurring after LSU’s receipt of this notice will be deemed knowing and willful and will be pursued vigorously through all available legal and equitable remedies, without further notice.”

The jersey number snub is a whole different matter. Jayden Daniels’ impact on football was so profound that his high school, Cajon, named a stadium after him, linking him to the school’s football legacy forever. When he went to LSU after three years with Arizona State and won the Heisman Trophy, he believed LSU would remember and honor him the same way his high school does. But Pickett wearing Daniels’ No. 5 went against his wishes, and a spokesperson has noted that “The Daniels family is deeply disappointed and feels profoundly disrespected” by this decision.

“Jayden made it clear that he did not want his number given to another player, and he believed his wishes would be respected,” the spokesperson said. “His Heisman Trophy-winning season and everything he accomplished on and off the field cemented his place in LSU history. To see his number given to another player is incredibly disappointing and feels like a failure to honor the significance of what Jayden accomplished at LSU.”

Daniels’ number hasn’t been retired, but it had remained unworn since he moved to the NFL in 2024, just like Joe Burrow’s No. 9 has been untouched since 2019. Pickett, on the other hand, wore No. 3 in his first year with LSU. For Daniels’ camp, that’s the way things should have stayed.