Agents say tight end has agreement to play for LSU in 2026 if he clears NFL waivers, reuniting him with former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin.
The Cleveland Browns waived tight end Dae'Quan Wright on Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026, and his agents said he has an agreement in place to play the 2026 season for LSU if he clears waivers, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported. The move comes days after a temporary restraining order issued by a Louisiana court allowed Wright and other athletes to re-enter the NCAA transfer portal, setting up what multiple outlets describe as an unprecedented path from an active NFL roster back to college football. Wright's agents, Drew Rosenhaus and Kyle Lincoln, confirmed the waiver and the LSU arrangement directly to Schefter.
The transaction was paired with another Browns roster move. ESPN reported that Cleveland activated defensive tackle Maliek Collins from the physically unable to perform list in the corresponding move when Wright was waived, confirming the Wright transaction as an official, recorded NFL roster decision rather than speculation.
Timeline From Portal Entry to Waiver
According to ESPN, Wright officially entered the transfer portal on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2026, after the Louisiana restraining order opened the door for him and other athletes to pursue an additional season of college eligibility. Four days later, on Sunday, Aug. 23, Schefter reported the Browns had waived Wright and that an agreement was already in place for him to join LSU pending clearance of NFL waivers.
Bleacher Report followed with a report on Monday, Aug. 24, framing the story around Wright's release from Cleveland and his link to LSU as a transfer-portal landing spot. That report also credited CBS Sports' Brad Crawford with describing Wright as the first active NFL player to enter the collegiate transfer portal, a characterization that has circulated widely across ESPN, Yahoo Sports and social media but remains attributed reporting rather than a formally adjudicated designation.
The Kiffin Connection at Ole Miss and LSU
The reunion angle is central to why LSU emerged as Wright's landing spot. ESPN reported that Wright played for Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, building a working relationship that predates Kiffin's move to LSU. That prior familiarity with Kiffin's offensive system is seen as a factor reducing the transition risk if Wright ultimately suits up for the Tigers.
Wright's production at Ole Miss underscores why the move is being treated as more than a depth addition. ESPN reported he recorded 39 catches for 635 yards and five touchdowns last season for the Rebels. One social media report referenced in the broader coverage cited a larger two-season total of 67 receptions for 1,029 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, though that figure comes from a secondary source rather than the ESPN report and should be treated with appropriate caution pending fuller verification.
Browns' Reaction and the Legal Backdrop
The development caught Cleveland's coaching staff off guard, according to a widely circulated quote attributed to Browns head coach Todd Monken. Reacting to Wright entering the transfer portal, Monken said, "Man this shit is crazy. I don't even know what to say." Monken also said he had wondered why Lane Kiffin had reached out to him a week earlier, adding that he did not return the call and, in hindsight, wished he had.
The legal mechanism enabling Wright's move is the temporary restraining order granted by a Louisiana court, which allowed a group of athletes to enter the transfer portal despite standing NCAA and professional eligibility norms. That order sits at the center of the story's novelty, since it created a collision between NFL roster rules and college eligibility rules that reporters say has not played out this way before.
What Remains Unresolved
Despite the agreement described by Wright's agents, the move to LSU is not yet final. ESPN's reporting explicitly frames LSU as his destination only if he clears NFL waivers, a process that determines whether another NFL team could claim him before he becomes a free agent. Should another club claim Wright off waivers, the LSU arrangement as currently described would not take effect.
The story has spread quickly beyond the initial ESPN and Bleacher Report accounts, with Yahoo Sports, Fox News and numerous social media posts referencing the same core sequence of events. Much of that secondary coverage repeats the central claim that Wright could become the first player to move directly from an NFL roster back into college competition, a claim that remains attributed to reporting rather than confirmed by a governing body. As the waiver process plays out, the central facts remain that Cleveland has released Wright and that LSU, under Kiffin, is positioned as his next stop.
