The NFL was right to not hold a supplemental draft for admitted gambler and Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby, said Ideastream Public Media sports commentator Terry Pluto.
The league's decision also benefits the Cleveland Browns, Pluto added.
"Look at the two guys (Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders), see if you can find a quarterback there," Pluto said. "Quit looking for someone to drop from the sky and save the franchise. Stop with that."
Sorsby has a significant gambling problem, according to Pluto, which is not easy to overcome. Court filings show he made more than $90,000 in bets.
Sorsby had applied for the supplemental draft after a legal battle with the NCAA, which had declared him ineligible for making thousands of bets during his college career, according to the Associated Press. That included bets on Indiana while he was a freshman there in 2022, though none on the games in which he played for the Hoosiers that season, the Associated Press reported.
"The things in some of the documents that I read, statements made by Sorsby himself, for example, (he) would get triggered by all these apps. They send you all the stuff, the next thing you know, that makes (him) bet," Pluto said. "When he was at Indiana, he said that it allowed him to feel closer to his teammates and like part of the team, because he wasn't dressing for the games, to bet on them. I mean, this is pure gambling excuse-making."
Pluto said while some may point out the hypocrisy of the NFL for making millions in ad revenue from sports gambling companies, the NFL also collects money from alcohol sponsors, but suspends players who commit alcohol-related offenses. Plus, Pluto noted, the NFL is "scared to death" of having a big gambling scandal like MLB has had with Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz.
"This is a way for the league to send not only a message to Sorsby, but also to other players who are top prospects, or anybody else in college — that (if) you start getting into this gambling thing, there is a price to be paid," Pluto said.
The NFL declining to hold a supplemental draft essentially serves as a one-year suspension for Sorsby, according to Pluto.
"Then ... I'd have a meeting with him if I were the NFL," Pluto said. "All right, you might need to do these different things ... 35 days in a gambling rehab center in Arizona, whatever that type of treatment is. But most of the time, this is a long process over years and years of trying to stay, in a sense, gambling-sober."
While Pluto was told the Browns were not seriously considering pursuing Sorsby, this move removes all temptation.
"Remember, (head coach) Todd Monken was asked about this a month or so ago," Pluto said. "And he's like, 'I don't know about this now. I mean, that's a slippery slope here.' I mean, right away, Monken, who's the new coach and is the quarterback guru, knew that this is not what you want to bring in. Let's look at what we got, and then we'll go shopping for a quarterback in '27, and this discussion at least gets tabled for a year."
