The NFL last held a supplemental draft in 2019, but it looks like it will be back this summer.
Dane Brugler of TheAthletic.com reports that the league has scheduled the supplemental draft for July 11. The draft is for players who were not eligible for the draft in April, but have seen their circumstances change — being declared ineligible for academic or other reasons, for instance — and petitioned the league for eligibility this year.
Brugler reports former Purdue wideout Milton Wright is one such player. He was declared academically ineligible last year, but had no path to the NFL when the league called off the supplemental draft and said players who might have been eligible could not enter the league as free agents. Wright had 57 catches for 732 yards and seven touchdowns in 2021.
The supplemental draft does not unfold the same way as the regular draft. Teams submit bids for players based on what round they would select them in a typical draft and would forfeit their selection in the next year’s draft if that bid is successful.
Safety Jalen Thompson was the last player selected in a supplemental draft. The Cardinals used a fifth-round pick to select him in 2019.
