Former NFL linebacker Shawne Merriman has criticised the growing trend of players who briefly went professional attempting to return to college football, calling the situation "pretty ridiculous". His comments come amid a wider controversy engulfing Lane Kiffin's LSU Tigers programme, with the SEC filing an amended complaint against the school in an Alabama federal court after commissioner Greg Sankey accused LSU of obstructing the conference's authority.

Merriman argued that NCAA eligibility rules, which allow athletes five years to use five seasons of competition, combined with lucrative name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, have created a "free-for-all" with no proper "guardrails". He cited tight end Dae'Quan Wright, who played four college seasons before going undrafted and being cut by the Cleveland Browns, as an example of a player now seeking a fifth college year. Merriman also noted the NFL has warned clubs that returning players cannot be signed mid-season or re-enter the draft, and predicted that any such player would face quiet resentment and questions over integrity if they later returned to an NFL locker room.