By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken inadvertently imitated the late, great Green Bay Packers coach of the 1960s, Vince Lombardi, on Saturday.
Lombardi famously said in an NFL Films classic clip, “What the hell’s going on out there,” on the sidelines during a game in which his team was struggling.
On Saturday, Monken, who was LSU’s passing game coordinator/receivers coach in 2005 and ’06 under Les Miles, rebooted Lombardi’s comment. Only his was about the absurdity of a sitting NFL player entering the NCAA Transfer Portal to go back to college.
Such is the case with former Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright, who is currently on the Browns’ roster. But on Thursday, Wright entered the portal and is reportedly the first NFL player to do so. On Saturday, Wright was in the portal, but also in full uniform for the Browns in their 31-7 loss to Buffalo in a preseason game in Cleveland “just in case we had to have him,” Monken said. The only reason he didn’t play was because Monken said he missed too much practices leading up to the game, even though he was cleared late in the week for play.
As far as Wright also entering the portal last week, Monken cracked, “Man, isn’t this (expletive deleted) crazy,” in the postgame press conference. “I don’t know what to say. I wondered why Lane Kiffin reached out a week ago? Now, I know.”
Kiffin apparently left a message.
“I didn’t call back,” Monken said. “I guess I should have.”
Browns coach Todd Monken on TE Dae’Quan Wright, who is in the NCAA transfer portal and suited up today:
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) August 22, 2026
“Ain’t s*** crazy? … I wondered why Lane Kiffin reached out a week ago. Now I know. I didn’t call him back. Now I guess I should have.” pic.twitter.com/dplAKde68f
Wright recently became eligible for a fifth and extra year of eligibility after playing four full seasons – two at Virginia Tech (2022-23) and two at Ole Miss (2024-25) for Kiffin – by recent court rulings as he is one of many athletes who began their college careers in 2022 and have sued the NCAA. The NCAA recently passed a rule for athletes to play five seasons in five years instead of only four in five years, but excluding athletes before 2023. Hence, the suit from the players of 2022 who had thought they were done with the conclusion of the 2025-26 sports calendar year.
Veteran sports agent Drew Rosenhaus echoed Lombardi on the Pat McAfee Show on ESPN last week after Wright entered the portal as a Brown.
“This is crazy. This could be the first player to play in the NFL through training camp and then go play collegiately,” he said of Wright, although Wright has not played in a game yet.
Wright was not chosen in the April NFL Draft before signing for $25,000 as a free agent with Philadelphia, which later cut him before the Browns signed him.
Wright (6-foot-4, 246 pounds) played in 15 games last season for Ole Miss – the first 12 for Kiffin in the regular season before he left for the LSU job. He caught 39 passes in all for 635 yards and five touchdowns. In 2024, Wright started six of 13 games for Kiffin and caught 27 passes for 394 yards and four touchdowns. In 2023 with Virginia Tech, he caugh 28 passes for 366 yards in 12 games with seven starts. In seven games and one start as a true freshman from Perry High in Perry, Georgia, Wright caught 17 passes for 208 yards.
Kiffin has already signed one of the 2022 players involved in the extra eligibility year lawsuit in fifth-year senior Junior Tuihalamaka of Notre Dame on Friday. Tuihalamaka, though, had spent no time with any NFL teams after not getting drafted.
And Kiffin may or not be interested in former LSU senior defensive end Jack Pyburn, who is also suing as a 2022 college enrollee after his senior season at LSU in 2025 and can apparently play in college in 2026.
Pyburn made three tackles for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a 16-14 win over Kansas City in an NFL preseason game in Tampa on Saturday night after two sacks the previous week against the New York Jets. Pyburn signed a $3.1 million contract over three years with the Bucs after not getting picked in the 2026 draft. He has reportedly been interested in also entering the portal after judges’ rulings that he could have another collegiate season. But it is not clear if he has yet as he remains in an NFL-Portal limbo.
“I don’t want to speak too much on it,” Pyburn told reporters after the game Saturday. “My agents are handling it. They’re doing it in my best interests. I’m just focused on playing good football. I love being here. I’ve been going as hard as I can to make this team and be a part of this special organization.”
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