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Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris may not be eligible to play in college football or in the NFL this season. But they do have at least one option to make money playing football: the UFL.
On Wednesday, the league confirmed to Front Office Sports that the players are eligible to participate in the upcoming season, which starts in April 2027.
“It’s a great [question],” UFL co-owner Mike Repole told FOS’s Dan Roberts. “I mean, listen, we’re a pro league, right? I mean, at the end of the day, anybody who plays in the United Football League shouldn’t be able to go back to college, right? … We want those college players that can’t make the NFL [to] come to the United Football League. … If they’re looking for a path back into the NFL … I think we have 50-plus players right now on NFL rosters that over the last three years have played.”
In August, Wright and Harris joined a Louisiana state eligibility lawsuit challenging the implementation of the NCAA’s new “age-based” eligibility policy. Their case was one of many brought by players arguing they should have a fifth year based on this policy. But it made waves because the players signed NFL contracts and appeared on NFL rosters over the summer.
Wright was waived by the Cleveland Browns after their second preseason game, while Harris was waived by the New Orleans Saints in early August.
The minimum NFL rookie salary is $885,000, although players on practice squads are only paid just over $13,000 each week they’re on the practice squad.
Most NFL players have non-guaranteed salaries and must be on a team’s roster to be paid the salaries in their contracts for that season. It is believed Harris and Wright received either a small signing bonus or no signing bonus when they were signed by NFL teams as undrafted rookies in the spring.
In 2025, UFL players signed a new collective bargaining agreement with the league that increased minimum salaries—for players who play the full season—to $64,000.
LSU agreed to sign both players—sparking the football power conferences to implement pro player bans attempting to prevent them from returning to college. Despite receiving an injunction to play, the pair never suited up for the Tigers. Kiffin opted not to roster the players after the SEC sued LSU and Kiffin. The conference later escalated that lawsuit by filing court documents threatening to expel LSU.
Wright and Harris found themselves without a place to play football. Shortly after LSU decided not to roster them, the NFL told its teams last week that it would not allow the two players back on NFL teams for the 2026 season. They would have to wait until next year, when they would be considered undrafted free agents for the 2027 NFL season.
Last week, Wright’s agent Drew Rosenhaus told FOS that Wright was “looking at his legal options.” Meanwhile, the NFLPA said it would “explore all options.” Rosenhaus has said that Wright never actually signed an agreement with LSU.
Rosenhaus did not directly address the prospect on Wednesday of Wright playing in the UFL or comment on other aspects of the case, telling FOS that there were no new developments.
Repole said the UFL prepares players to be ready for NFL offseason practices and training camps if they’re signed.
“I think that our players are developed, prepared,” he said. “They’re in great shape. They play from February to June 15, [which] is our championship. I think that makes a big difference when they go to [the NFL].”
While the UFL is an option, it’s unclear whether the players are interested. The UFL similarly offered eligibility to former Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who sued the NCAA for eligibility despite engaging in gambling activities but who ultimately chose not to play for the Red Raiders this year. The NFL declined to hold a supplemental draft for Sorsby, locking him out of the league for this season as well. Sorsby has not signed with a UFL team.
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