Defensive tackle Zxavian Harris is a free agent again and can sign with any NFL club for the rest of the 2026 season, the league told its 32 teams in a memo dated Monday, October 12, after concluding that his brief detour toward LSU never included a single practice.
The decision undoes a ruling that had effectively frozen Harris out of the league. On September 16, a player personnel memo told clubs he was off limits for 2026 on the grounds that he had suited up for a college team once NFL training camps were under way. Monday’s notice says Harris disputed that finding, that the league interviewed him and sought independent confirmation of what he did once camps began, and that it now accepts the players’ union’s position that playing college football requires, at the least, taking part in a practice or a game for a college team.
The NFL sent this memo to clubs regarding the decision to reinstate Zxavian Harris’ eligibility for the 2026 NFL season. pic.twitter.com/4yeVT1Focn
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 12, 2026
The Management Council, the memo says, confirmed that Harris never joined an organized practice with a college program. He is therefore free to visit teams and to sign either a standard contract or a practice squad deal. The league also switched the college listed on his file from Louisiana State back to Mississippi, where he spent four seasons. Tom Pelissero was first to report the ruling Monday afternoon.
The NFL Management Council informed DT Zxavian Harris — one of the players who attempted and failed to return to college at LSU — that it has established he never practiced and therefore he is now a free agent, eligible to visit and sign with any NFL team, sources tell @ringer… pic.twitter.com/LVO9oR9KzG
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 12, 2026
How Harris ended up in limbo
Harris, who is listed at 6 feet 7 3/4 inches and 330 pounds, went unsigned in the April draft after foot surgery in March. The New Orleans Saints added him as an undrafted free agent on May 1, but he was still recovering when camp opened, never took the practice field for them and was waived on August 8.
He was then one of the former college players who sought to return to campus after a Louisiana court order on August 19 temporarily blocked the NCAA from enforcing its eligibility rules against them. LSU coach Lane Kiffin, who had coached Harris at Ole Miss, left him off the roster submitted for the season opener against Clemson, and the school later stopped pursuing players who had turned pro. Harris has said he was not practicing with the Tigers during that period.
He worked out for the Green Bay Packers with a group of free agents in September but could not be signed while the league’s earlier ruling stood.
What he brings
Harris played in all 13 games as an Ole Miss freshman in 2022. As a sophomore he blocked a field-goal try that would have tied Texas A&M in Ole Miss’ 38-35 victory and finished with 30 tackles, 3.5 of them for a loss. In 2024 he made 32 tackles, 4.5 for a loss, with 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble.
What comes next
No club has been linked to Harris since the ruling, and no visits have been reported. Any team can now bring him in, and a practice squad contract is an option as well as a spot on the 53-man roster. Every signing will appear on our transactions page.
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