Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Brendan Sorsby's professional football career is in serious jeopardy after a major NFL team publicly distanced themselves from him.
- Cleveland Browns coach Todd Monken ruled out drafting the Texas Tech QB in the supplemental draft due to his college gambling violations.
- NFL teams are drawing a hard line on off-field baggage, signaling that severe personal conduct mistakes can permanently ruin a player's pro prospects.
Brendan Sorsby's football career is in limbo, but recent comments by the head coach of one of the NFL's worst teams may have just ended it. Cleveland Browns sideline boss Todd Monken sounded like a guy who wouldn't touch Texas Tech's embattled quarterback with a 90-foot pole when asked about potentially selecting him in July's supplemental draft.
"I don't think we're in a position to want to go down that road," Monken said Monday. "That's my opinion, that's not [general manager Andrew Berry's]. I like the quarterbacks that we have."
Cleveland is currently navigating a three-way QB battle between veteran Deshaun Watson and 2025 draftees Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel. None of them appears to have the obvious inside track which prompted speculation Sorsby—who is ineligible to play his final college season due to sports gambling violations—could be picked by the Browns to add to the competition. Monken added he was wary of the baggage Sorsby would come with from his infractions and subsequent lawsuit filed against the NCAA.
"I think that's a slippery slope when you go down that [path], irrespective of talent, right? In terms of the situation he's [put] himself in, we all know what that is. He put himself in that situation," Monken explained. "And we've seen in other sports with players that have been banned for life from playing in professional sports."
Browns HC slams door on Brendan Sorsby's NFL prospects which kind of serves him right
The last of Monken's comments really put the final nail in the coffin of Sorsby's football prospects, period. Not many folks have considered his college infringements could carry over into the professional world.
"From my end of it, [it's] kind of a tough angle to go down that road and think that's going to be your franchise quarterback if he's ever eligible to even play in the NFL," Monken said, considering the guilt by association the Browns would have to deal with.
It's unclear if Sorsby would suffer any consequences from the NFL because he bet on sports—including his own teams—while competing as a student-athlete. But Monken is right about not wanting yet another scandal-ridden player on the roster. Cleveland has to already deal with the unpopular return of Watson, who dealt with a multitude of sexual misconduct complaints and lawsuits over the last few years.
The bottom line of this situation is clear from Monken's stance. Sorsby's actions have consequences and not even a lawsuit to gain eligibility on the flimsiest of arguments is going to change that. Even if he does get to play for Texas Tech in 2026, he's going to carry the stain of forcing his way onto the field after making serious personal conduct mistakes for the rest of his life.
We've seen NFL teams conveniently forget about worse things with players in the past but if Sorsby fails to gain eligibility for 2026, being rejected by the Browns is likely the final straw in his football-playing prospects.
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