The Indianapolis Colts might be on the verge of creating a huge dilemma for themselves. The team could look elsewhere for a long-term quarterback (more on that in just a minute), and the answer at the position could be Brendan Sorsby. The QB is expected to be available in the NFL supplemental draft, likely to be held in July.
General manager Chris Ballard should certainly be aware of how the quarterback practices and prepares to play. Sorsby began his college career at Indiana, where he played for two years before transferring to Cincinnati. Ballard has also stated, as he did after the team chose Seth McGowan in the seventh round this year, that he believes in giving second chances.
As for physical ability, Sorsby seemingly has enough to be a good NFL player. He is 6'3" and 235 pounds, can make any throw he needs to, and can run well. Without his off-field issues, he could have been a first-round pick in the 2027 draft.
Indianapolis Colts might be in a postion to take a chance on quarterback Brendan Sorsby
Those off-field issues are impossible to ignore, though. He reportedly placed as many as 9,000 bets in college, beginning as a freshman at Indiana, and some of those were placed on his own team. He wagered, according to ESPN, around $90,000 on pro and college sports during his time in college.
This season, Sorsby was expected to play with his third college team, Texas Tech, and that was during a mess of a situation. The NCAA didn't want the QB to play due to his betting issues, especially on his own teams, and then a court in Texas, with judges who had gone to Texas Tech, ruled that Sorsby should be able to play, and after a lot of pushback, Sorsby is no longer playing at Texas Tech.
His next step will be to play in the NFL, assuming a team takes a chance on him. Since he's a quarterback and a talented one, some team in the league will take a chance. That team could be the Colts.
For one, Daniel Jones was signed only for two seasons, and the team has an out after the first year. If Jones doesn't stay healthy (and he has a history, including 2025, of not being able to finish seasons due to various injuries) or doesn't play as well as he did in the first half of last season, Indy could choose to move on and save $38 million. He has no guaranteed money in year two.
Backups Anthony Richardson and Riley Leonard don't appear on the verge of eventually replacing Jones. The Indianapolis Colts chose Jones over Richardson to start last season, and Richardson is in the final year of his rookie deal.
Leonard was a sixth-round choice that the team isn't sold on enough to make him QB2 this offseason, even though Richardson has requested a trade and has only that one year left on his contract. Leonard has three, and he was good in his one start in Week 18 last season.
This leaves the door open for the Colts to choose Brendan Sorsby in the supplemental draft, trading or simply releasing Richardson (which saves the team no money but costs the team nothing, either), and giving Sorsby a season to acclimate to the NFL.
The supplemental draft gets a bit odd, though. Teams wanting to bid in the draft can place a draft round tender. This means Indy could bid with a second-round value, and if they land Sorsby, Indianapolis would then forfeit its second-round choice in 2027.
It's important to note that the Colts do not have a first-round choice next year, as that pick was given to the New York Jets to get cornerback Sauce Gardner in the middle of last season. If Indianapolis bids on the supplemental draft and that value is a second-rounder, and the team gets Sorsby, the Colts wouldn't have selections in either of the first two rounds next year.
The flip side of that is that Brendan Sorsby could be worthy of a first-round selection in raw ability, so ultimately, Indy could get Sorsby for a second-round value. The challenge to all of that is the risk that Brendan Sorsby cannot get over his gambling issue, and he's not worth the risk for any team to take.
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