The NFL draft is one of the biggest events on the NFL’s offseason calendar, but it isn’t the league’s only draft.
The NFL on Tuesday will resurrect its supplemental draft, following a three-year hiatus. The event hasn’t been held since 2019 due, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the NFL is bringing it back in 2023, with two receivers — Purdue’s Milton Wright and Jackson State’s Malachi Wideman — eligible for selection by the league’s 32 clubs. The supplemental draft isn’t quite the production of the NFL draft, but fans will undoubtedly hold an interest in it, especially if it leads to a roster addition for their favorite team.
So, what is the NFL supplemental draft? Here’s a brief history of it, and a rundown of exactly how it works.
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What is the NFL supplemental draft?
The NFL supplemental draft is a summer-time draft held for players who didn’t declare for the previous NFL draft, but are otherwise draft-eligible. The draft alternative originated in 1977, and was meant to accommodate players who either missed the NFL draft filing deadline or who faced unexpected eligibility issues for the upcoming college football season.
The supplemental draft hasn’t always been a big storyline for the NFL. The reasons for this are simple: Teams aren’t required to make picks in the supplemental draft; the draft is not televised; and it is completed quickly (about 10 minutes). It takes longer to report the results, but it is largely an administrative process on the part of the NFL.
Still, some strong players have come into the NFL’s workforce from the supplemental draft, including Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Cris Carter and quarterback Bernie Kosar. The latter’s selection in the 1985 NFL supplemental draft is the most notable pick in the alternative draft’s history.
Why? Because Kosar and his agent, A.J. Faigin, effectively schemed to have him avoid the normal NFL draft in the hopes he could play for his hometown team, the Cleveland Browns. Kosar’s efforts were successful, but created a great deal of drama across the NFL (especially from the Vikings and Oilers, who had hoped to land the Miami quarterback in the 1985 NFL Draft).
Even still, the NFL has continued to hold a supplemental draft since its inception in 1977. The process was put on a three-year hold due, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is returning to the July calendar in 2023.
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How does the NFL supplemental draft work?
The NFL supplemental draft isn’t all that different from the normal NFL draft. Each of the NFL’s 32 clubs will have a right to select available players over seven rounds to continue to build their 90-man rosters.
However, the supplemental draft is different in that it has a much smaller player pool. Teams bid future draft picks in an auction-style format to land the players. The clubs aren’t obligated to make a selection but, if they do, must surrender a pick from the next year’s NFL draft to do so.
An example of this is when the Cardinals selected Washington State safety Jalen Thompson in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Supplemental Draft. In picking Thompson, they forfeited their fifth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Teams are allowed to bid one pick in each round, if they desire. The NFL starts by allowing clubs to bid their first-round selections to land a player, and continues this process through the seventh round. The winning bid is determined by which team offers the earliest draft pick to acquire a player.
If multiple teams bid a pick in the same round to land a player, his rights will be granted to the team ranked higher in the draft order, determined by a three-group lottery.
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Which players are eligible for the NFL supplemental draft?
If a player was eligible for the previous year’s NFL draft, but did not declare, then they are eligible for the NFL supplemental draft.
Players have often entered the supplemental draft after dealing with unexpected issues that impact their eligibility for the ensuing college season. These have included — but are not limited to — academic ineligibility, suspensions due to failed drug tests, impermissible benefits and failure to declare for the NFL draft before the appropriate deadline.
NFL supplemental draft order
The NFL supplemental draft order is determined differently than the NFL draft. Teams that finished the previous season with the worst records are given priority over playoff teams, but there is a three-group lottery that determines the exact order in which teams will select.
Below are the official groups and order of priority for teams in the NFL supplemental draft.
Teams with six or fewer wins in the previous season
Non-playoff teams with seven-plus wins
Playoff teams
Because the NFL supplemental draft isn’t televised, the league doesn’t typically announce the draft order before the event. Fans will only know about the order if multiple teams put in identical bids for the same player.
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Full list of players selected in NFL supplemental draft history
Forty-six players have been selected in the history of the NFL supplemental draft. Notre Dame running back Al Hunter was the first in 1977. Thompson was the most recent player selected, in 2019.
Below is a full recap of the players selected in the NFL supplemental draft.
Year
Player
Position
Round
Team
College
1977
Al Hunter
RB
4th
Seahawks
Notre Dame
1978
Johnnie Dirden
WR
10th
Oilers
Sam Houston State
1978
Rod Connors
RB
12th
49ers
USC
1979
Rod Stewart
RB
6th
Bills
Kentucky
1980
Matthew Teague
DE
7th
Falcons
Prairie View A&M
1980
Billy Mullins
WR
9th
Chargers
USC
1981
Dave Wilson
QB
1st
Saints
Illinois
1981
Chy Davidson
WR
11th
Patriots
Rhode Island
1982
Kevin Robinson
CB
9th
Lions
North Carolina A&T
1985
Bernie Kosar
QB
1st
Browns
Miami
1985
Roosevelt Snipes
RB
8th
49ers
Florida State
1986
Charles Crawford
RB
7th
Eagles
Oklahoma State
1987
Brian Bosworth
LB
1st
Seahawks
Oklahoma
1987
Dan Sileo
DT
3rd
Buccaneers
Miami
1987
Cris Carter
WR
4th
Eagles
Ohio State
1988
Ryan Bethea
WR
5th
Vikings
South Carolina
1989
Steve Walsh
QB
1st
Cowboys
Miami
1989
Timm Rosenbach
QB
1st
Cardinals
Washington State
1989
Bobby Humphrey
RB
1st
Broncos
Alabama
1989
Brett Young
DB
8th
Bills
Oregon
1989
Mike Lowman
RB
12th
Cowboys
Coffeyville Community College
1990
Rob Moore
WR
1st
Jets
Syracuse
1990
Willie Williams
TE
9th
Cardinals
LSU
1992
Dave Brown
QB
1st
Giants
Duke
1992
Darren Mickell
DE
2nd
Chiefs
Florida
1994
Tito Wooten
CB
4th
Giants
Northeast Louisiana
1994
John Davis
TE
5th
Cowboys
Emporia State
1995
Darren Benson
DT
3rd
Cowboys
Trinity Valley Community College
1998
Mike Wahle
OT
2nd
Packers
Navy
1998
Jamal Williams
NT
2nd
Chargers
Oklahoma State
1999
J’Juan Cherry
CB
4th
Patriots
Arizona State
2002
Milford Brown
G
6th
Texans
Florida State
2003
Tony Hollings
RB
2nd
Texans
Georgia Tech
2005
Manuel Wright
DT
5th
Dolphins
USC
2006
Ahmad Brooks
LB
3rd
Bengals
Virginia
2007
Paul Oliver
S
4th
Chargers
Georgia
2007
Jared Gaither
OT
5th
Ravens
Maryland
2009
Jeremy Jarmon
DE
3rd
Redskins
Kentucky
2010
Harvey Unga
FB
7th
Bears
BYU
2010
Josh Brent
NT
7th
Cowboys
Illinois
2011
Terrelle Pryor
QB
3rd
Raiders
Ohio State
2012
Josh Gordon
WR
2nd
Browns
Baylor
2015
Isaiah Battle
OT
5th
Rams
Clemson
2018
Sam Beal
CB
3rd
Giants
Western Michigan
2018
Adonis Alexander
CB
6th
Redskins
Virginia Tech
2019
Jalen Thompson
S
5th
Cardinals
Washington State
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