The NFL recently informed its teams that tight end Dae’Quan Wright and defensive tackle Zxavian Harris are not permitted to play in 2026. Professional football during the spring could be an option in the case of those two players, though.
The UFL has confirmed that Wright and Harris are eligible to play in that league this season. As things stand, those two are not in position to play football during the fall given their ban on joining an NFL team. Legal battles centered on LSU, meanwhile, resulted in neither Wright nor Harris managing to reunite with head coach Lane Kiffin as players for the Tigers.
“I mean, listen, we’re a pro league, right?” UFL co-owner Mike Repole said (via Amanda Christovich and Mark Maske of Front Office Sports). “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.”
Wright’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has stated all legal options are being explored with respect to a potential NFL return. He noted Wright never officially joined LSU’s roster after being waived by the Browns this summer. Harris has likewise not seen any time on a college roster after being cut by the Saints last month due to the legal action threatened against Kiffin and LSU.
Several UFL players have spent time during the spring (the league’s schedule runs from February to June) as a way of earning NFL opportunities. It remains to be seen if either Wright or Harris will be interested in joining a UFL team over the coming months. Their path to the NFL currently exists as free agents beginning in the 2027 offseason.
