Dae’Quan Wright’s path back to college football isn’t theoretical anymore. It’s becoming the most logical outcome, and his agent is saying it out loud.
Drew Rosenhaus went on “The Pat McAfee Show” Friday and made it clear he doesn’t expect Wright to make the Cleveland Browns’ roster or get claimed by another NFL team. If Wright clears waivers, Rosenhaus believes his client will use the Louisiana court order to return to college for one more season.
And Rosenhaus didn’t frame it as a long shot. He framed it as the likely move.
“I think it’s likely to happen, as his agent, because we don’t currently project him to make the Browns,” Rosenhaus said. “He’s really low on the depth chart. I would expect him to be cut on or before Aug. 30.”
Wright would have to repay his $25,000 signing bonus and some per diem money. That’s not nothing. But he wouldn’t be considering this if he didn’t think he could make more in college than he’d lose by paying that money back.
Rosenhaus even called the college option “a windfall,” adding, “Then he could go back into the draft next year when he’s healthier.”
This is where the debate kicks in.
Some people argue that once a player signs with a pro team, even briefly, they shouldn’t be allowed back in college. They aren’t wrong to feel that way. It’s a clean rule. It’s easy to understand. It’s how college sports operated for decades.
But Wright, like thousands of others, shouldn’t be in this position in the first place. The NCAA changed how eligibility works, created a new five‑in‑five model, and then refused to apply it retroactively to the class of 2022.
That’s the class that got squeezed. That’s the class that lost a year. That’s the class that had to sue to get it back.
A blanket waiver would have solved this months ago. Instead, the NCAA fought it, lost in court, and now everyone is dealing with the fallout.
So don’t blame Wright for trying to secure the biggest bag possible. That’s capitalism. He could be without a job in less than two weeks or making six figures in college football.
Which one would you pick? If you said the jobless option, you just lied to yourself.
Rosenhaus even pointed out how unprecedented this situation is.
“This is crazy,” he said. “This could be the first player to play in the NFL with an NFL team through the Combine and training camp and go play collegiately.”
Where Wright would play is still unsettled. Ole Miss is his only SEC option under current intraconference‑transfer rules. LSU has interest. Multiple ACC programs have checked in. Virginia Tech, his former school, is in the mix.
Ole Miss makes sense on paper. Wright was a second‑team All‑SEC tight end last season and would immediately boost an already deep room. In practicality, a return to Oxford isn’t likely in the cards for Wright.
But the bigger story is the decision itself. Rosenhaus expects Cleveland to release him before final cuts, and he no longer talks about Wright’s return to college as a possibility. He talks about it as the plan.
And when you look at the money, the timing, the injury recovery, and the NCAA’s own missteps, it’s hard to argue with him.
