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A second player recently released from an NFL roster has been connected to the LSU football program. Defensive tackle Zxavian Harris, who was let go by the New Orleans Saints on August 8, is anticipated to join the Tigers for the 2026 campaign, according to multiple reports.
Harris, who played under Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss from 2022 to 2025, is among 16 athletes from the 2022 high school graduating class who became eligible for a fifth season due to a July 31 court ruling in Louisiana. That ruling granted a temporary restraining order against the NCAA, challenging its new five-to-play-five rule that would have ended eligibility for fourth-year seniors after the 2025-26 academic year.
The 6-foot-8, 330-pound lineman recorded 58 tackles, nine tackles for loss, and three sacks in 15 games for Ole Miss last season. Despite those numbers, he went undrafted in the 2026 NFL Draft, signed a free-agent contract with the Saints on May 1, but failed to make the team during training camp.
Interestingly, Harris was among several former Ole Miss players who voiced strong criticism of Kiffin following his departure to LSU at the end of the 2025 regular season. Speaking at the NFL combine, Harris accused Kiffin of misleading the team about his negotiations with LSU. "When Kiffin was there, he was telling us every day, 'Don't believe the rumors,'" Harris said. "He's not gonna leave. Keep us focused. But by the time he came (to LSU), everybody was starstruck. Like, he told us not to believe the rumors. We should have believed it."
Key Analysis
Harris is one of three newly eligible players expected to join LSU less than two weeks before the 2026 season opener. Former Notre Dame linebacker Junior Tuihalamaka committed to the Tigers on Friday, and tight end DaeQuan Wright is likely to follow suit if he clears waivers after being released by the Cleveland Browns. The July 31 ruling also affects other players currently in NFL camps, including former Oregon State running back Anthony Hankerson (Seattle Seahawks), former Florida and LSU pass rusher Jack Pyburn (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and ex-Ole Miss defensive back Wydett Williams (Arizona Cardinals). However, since Hankerson, Pyburn, and Williams remain with NFL teams, it is uncertain whether they will return to college football.
Kiffin has defended the trend of former NFL players returning to college, arguing that if LSU did not sign players like Harris and Wright, rival programs would. "We have made a decision to recruit some kids around the country, and through these multiple injunctions around the country, which, this is not a first time in college sports, players were granted a fifth year of eligibility in multiple sports," Kiffin said Monday, via On3. "And through them winning their injunction and entry into the portal, they're available to recruit. So ourselves, like many places around the country, are recruiting them. At the end of the day, because of these rulings, they're either going to play for you or they're going to play somewhere else around the country. We made a decision to recruit them, like probably most people are."
It remains possible that SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey could push back against Harris and/or Wright enrolling at LSU, as he did after basketball player Charles Bediako returned to Alabama last winter and recently with newly signed LSU basketball player RJ Luis. Bediako was eventually barred from playing college basketball after five games with the Crimson Tide, while Luis' case is still pending. The SEC has a rule prohibiting intraconference transfers after the January transfer portal closes, though it is unclear if that applies to players who briefly spent time in the NFL.