Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels has told LSU it can no longer use his name, image and likeness, escalating a dispute over the school’s decision to allow a current player to wear the No. 5 jersey Daniels wore when he won the Heisman Trophy in 2023.
An attorney for Daniels sent a cease-and-desist letter to LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry on Aug. 5, copies of obtained. The letter cited the school’s use of Daniels’s NIL beyond the terms of his college contract, which permitted LSU to continue using his likeness for 180 days following his final game. The attorney stated that any further use of Daniels’s name, image or likeness after the letter’s receipt would be treated as willful and pursued through all available legal remedies.
The dispute centers on sophomore cornerback DJ Pickett wearing No. 5 during LSU’s preseason practices, which began last week. Pickett wore No. 3 during his freshman season in 2025, when he was named a freshman All-American after recording three interceptions, 37 tackles and one sack in 524 defensive snaps.
Daniels’s position
A family spokesperson said they are deeply disappointed and feel profoundly disrespected by the decision to allow another player to wear his number. The statement said He had made clear he did not want his number given to another player, and that he had believed his wishes would be respected.
The statement cited his Heisman-winning season and overall contributions to the university as grounds for expecting the number to be treated with greater deference even in the absence of a formal retirement. He passed for 3,812 yards with 40 touchdowns and ran for 1,134 yards and 10 scores while leading the Tigers to a 10-3 record in 2023.
LSU’s athletic department declined to comment when contacted by ESPN.
How the number ended up with Pickett
First-year LSU coach Lane Kiffin said at a press briefing on Aug. 5 that Pickett had been promised the right to wear No. 5 as a condition of signing with the Tigers in December 2024. Pickett, a top cornerback recruit from Zephyrhills, Florida, had worn the number throughout his high school career. Kiffin said that when a player is promised something to attend a school, that promise should be honored, and that by the time he arrived he did not believe he had a decision to make.
Former LSU coach Brian Kelly, who recruited Pickett and made him the promise, told ESPN he had intentionally not issued No. 5 to Pickett during the 2025 season because he had not agreed to it. Kelly said he was not prepared to proceed without Daniels’s full commitment, noting that the school had also not reissued Joe Burrow’s No. 9 following Burrow’s Heisman season in 2019. Kelly was fired in October 2025 after compiling a 34-14 record in four seasons, and Kiffin honored the promise when he took over.
LSU’s jersey policy
No. 5 has not been formally retired by the school, which creates the legal and institutional ambiguity at the center of this dispute. The school has retired four football jerseys outright, belonging to Billy Cannon, Tommy Casanova, Jerry Stovall and Charles Alexander. Cannon’s No. 20 is the only number that cannot be reissued to a football player.
The school’s published policy allows those numbers to be reissued at the head coach’s discretion. For a number to be formally retired, an athlete must have completed competition for five years and must have demonstrated truly unusual and outstanding accomplishments, a standard that explicitly cites winning the Heisman Trophy as an example. He meets that standard but has not formally been nominated.
Context
The Commanders selected Daniels with the No. 2 pick in the 2024 NFL draft after his Heisman season, and he won Offensive Rookie of the Year. He transferred from Arizona State before the 2023 season.
The situation reflects growing tensions over NIL rights and informal expectations around high-profile careers. He had a contractual NIL agreement with LSU. The school is operating within its published policies. Pickett was promised something the previous coach chose not to honor and the current coach chose to honor. All three positions have internal logic, which is what makes the dispute difficult to resolve.
