The controversial college football decision involving LSU also involves the New Orleans Saints.
The Saints had a rookie with them this summer, undrafted defensive tackle Zxavian Harris, who is set to return to college football at LSU.
It’s an unprecedented situation. Players never before went to the NFL and then went back to college.
Harris is trying to do it, though.
So too is Dae’Quan Wright, a tight end who spent the preseason with the Cleveland Browns.
If they succeed, they’ll be college players for Lane Kiffin with the Tigers despite spending time this summer trying to make professional rosters.
How Is This Possible?
A judge in Baton Rouge has given LSU the opening it needs to potentially make the Harris and Wright pickups a reality.
“Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris are currently cleared to return to college football after brief stints in the NFL, according to a judge’s orders issued Thursday evening, setting up a dramatic showdown between the SEC and LSU leading into its season-opening game this weekend,” ESPN’s Dan Murphy wrote in a new article on Thursday night.
The simple argument being made by Wright and Harris is that new, incoming college football players are now being given a path toward five years of eligibility under the new five-in-five rule. Harris and Wright didn’t have a chance at a fifth year. They undertook this lawsuit to pursue that.
Of course, under the surface is the financial reality.
Harris and Wright can both make legitimate money playing college football in this era. And neither of them was a sure thing to make an NFL roster.
The Saints and Browns had already moved on from these players, at least enough that both players opted to try this return-to-college route.
What Happens Next?
The SEC put in place a rule that wouldn’t allow this, so LSU is going to have to fight some more on this, it seems.
“Attorneys representing the SEC in court say they plan to file an appeal to Jorden’s decision as soon as possible,” Murphy wrote for ESPN. “The SEC says it reaffirmed a rule last week that was designed to allow its commissioner, Greg Sankey, to punish any school that added a former NFL, NBA or WNBA player to its roster by suspending the team’s coach for half of his program’s season and levying fines that could reach tens of millions of dollars. The players’ attorneys argued the league added more specifics to its professional ban last week in an effort to work around the judge’s orders.”
LSU’s roster for the season has to be finalized on Friday.
Of course, Wright and Harris could be named on the roster but then not actually take the field if LSU feels such a move is too risky.
Kiffin seems intent on pushing the envelope, though. And if this happens, it could set quite the major precedent.
New Orleans Saints Rookie Leaving NFL To Return To College Football At LSU