A quarterback gets busted betting on sports, hires a big-shot lawyer to fight the NCAA, and now NFL teams are quietly lining up to draft him anyway. That’s the Brendan Sorsby situation in one sentence, and it’s the reason the NFL supplemental draft is suddenly the most interesting betting market of the summer.
Sorsby threw for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns at Cincinnati last season with a 107.0 passer rating. Before the gambling scandal broke, PFF, CBS Sports, and USA Today all had him as a top-10 QB in the 2027 draft class. Now he’s trying to sneak into the league a year early through a process most fans have never heard of, and the destination odds are already posted.
Here’s what you need to know about the NFL supplemental draft, where Sorsby is likely to land, and where the value is on the current board.
What Is the NFL Supplemental Draft?
The NFL supplemental draft is a blind auction for players who lose college eligibility after the regular April draft deadline. Teams submit bids by email, wagering a future pick on the player they want. Whoever bids the highest round wins the player and gives up that pick from next year’s draft. Last team to use one: the Arizona Cardinals in 2019, when they landed safety Jalen Thompson for a fifth-round pick.
The NFL holds one only when eligible players apply. Sorsby applied on June 15, 2026. The deadline to apply is June 30. If approved, the draft would likely happen in mid-July.
The Sorsby Situation
Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby is trying to enter the NFL a year early after the NCAA launched a gambling investigation into him. He admitted to making thousands of online bets while in college, including on games at Indiana, while he was the starter. He didn’t bet on games he played in, which is the only thing keeping his case alive.
A court granted him a temporary injunction restoring his eligibility on June 8, but also handed him a two-game suspension. The Big 12 filed a complaint on June 14. The NCAA appealed the injunction on June 15. If the injunction holds, he can’t enter the supplemental draft. If it gets overturned, he can.
On the field, the talent is real. At Cincinnati in 2025, he threw for 2,800 yards, 27 touchdowns, and just 5 interceptions with a 107.0 passer rating. He added 580 rushing yards and 9 scores on the ground. Before the scandal broke, PFF, CBS Sports, and USA Today all had him as a top-10 QB in the 2027 draft class.
Note: This market is void if Sorsby doesn’t enter the draft. Keep that in mind before sizing up.
Bovada Sorsby Supplemental Draft Odds
Here’s the current board:
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| New York Jets | +275 |
| Miami Dolphins | +600 |
| Indianapolis Colts | +600 |
| Cleveland Browns | +650 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | +675 |
| Arizona Cardinals | +700 |
| Detroit Lions | +1200 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | +1200 |
| Carolina Panthers | +1600 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | +5000 |
Odds Analysis: Where’s the Value?
Pittsburgh is a Viable Long-Shot
Three separate pre-scandal mock drafts had Sorsby landing with Pittsburgh. PFF had him at No. 8 to the Steelers. CBS Sports had him at No. 8 to the Steelers. USA Today had him at No. 13 to the Steelers. That’s not a coincidence. The fit makes sense: Pittsburgh needs a long-term QB answer, as Aaron Rodgers is (presumably) considering retirement after the season.
At +675, the Steelers are priced almost identically to the Browns (+650) and Cardinals (+700) despite having a stronger pre-scandal consensus than both. The odds should reflect that mock draft concentration. They don’t. That’s value.
Fade the Jets at +275
The Jets are the chalk at +275, which implies roughly a 27% probability of winning. That’s a lot of juice to lay on a character-risk developmental quarterback for a team that also has cap constraints and a fanbase that doesn’t do patience well.
The fit narrative makes sense on the surface, but -275 chalk on a voidable market with a player whose eligibility is still being litigated in court is a tough spot to put money. The Jets are a franchise in the wilderness, but it’s hard to imagine Sorsby being the logical next step for them.
Arizona Cardinals (+700): Sleeper Worth a Look?
The Cardinals are the only team on this board that has actually used the supplemental draft in the past seven years. They know the process, they’re in rebuild mode, and they’re not under pressure to win now.
A developmental QB at a high-round bid fits exactly where they are as a franchise. +700 is a fair value for a team with institutional knowledge of this exact mechanism. With Kyler Murray in Minnesota, Arizona is looking for its next face of the franchise. I doubt Sorsby is the guy, but the Cardinals are a team positioned to take a potential flier.
What About the Browns?
One mock had Sorsby going fourth overall to Cleveland before the scandal. That’s an outlier, but the Browns have a recurring QB situation and a roster that’s otherwise built to compete.
The +650 odds for a team that needs a passer and has draft capital to spend feels reasonable.
Skip the Rest
The Dolphins (+600) are priced the same as the Colts but make less sense as a fit. Miami’s QB room is in flux, but Sorsby doesn’t match the offensive profile they’ve built.
The Colts is a more defensible bet with Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson both being fairly injury-prone, but Indy tends to be conservative on character-flag players. The Lions, Bucs, Panthers, and Chiefs are fairly easy options to fully ignore.
The Short Version
- Bovada is offering Sorsby destination odds for the 2026 supplemental draft, void if he doesn’t enter
- Jets are chalk at +275 — probably too short for a character risk on a voidable market
- Steelers +675 is the value play — three separate mock drafts had him going to Pittsburgh before the scandal
- Cardinals +700 is a sleeper — only team on the board with recent supplemental draft experience
- If his eligibility injunction holds, the whole market voids — size accordingly
The legal situation moves fast. The June 30 application deadline is the next hard date. If the injunction gets overturned before then, Sorsby enters the draft, and this market gets action.
Keep the position small, watch the legal calendar, and if the Steelers’ line moves shorter, that’s your signal the sharp money has already found it.
