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By Michael Gallagher
Sports Content Coordinator
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There's been no shortage of excitement for Cleveland Browns fans this offseason.
Cleveland dominated the headlines shortly after the season ended thanks to the overdramatic and highly public contract dispute between the team and star pass-rusher Myles Garrett.
The Browns were also a daily hot topic after the 2025 NFL draft thanks to the four-player quarterback competition between Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
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And now the team may have another distraction on its hands after Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported that there is a possibility that rookie running back Quinshon Judkins could take advantage of a loophole in the NFL's collective bargaining agreement and return to college for one more season.
"With the NFL investigating him for potential punishment under the Personal Conduct Policy, Judkins could have tried to return to college football for another season," Florio wrote. "In theory, he still could.
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"... If [a drafted] player never signs an NFL contract (and Judkins has not), why shouldn't he be able to return to college? The NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement contemplates the possibility of a player returning to school after the draft. While not binding on the NCAA, it shows that it shouldn't be viewed as an impossibility."
In the highly unlikely event Judkins does go back to school, the Browns would retain his NFL rights, and if he doesn't sign with them before the end of next January, he would enter the 2026 NFL draft and could go to a new team, per Florio.
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Florio raised the same point back in April with Sanders as he fell out of the first three rounds. The veteran NFL insider stated Sanders could return to Colorado for another season despite declaring for the draft and accepting benefits via the NFL combine.
"We've learned one very important thing about college football in recent years," Florio said. "Most, if not all, NCAA rules violate federal antitrust laws. And with players now making millions in NIL money, why shouldn't a player with remaining eligibility be allowed to return? No one has tested it. Shedeur could. If it fails, he could then sign a rookie deal and join whichever team eventually drafts him."
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