Highlights
- The NFL supplemental draft may be phased out due to a lack of players selected since 2019.
- Players like Cris Carter and Bernie Kosar made names in supplemental draft history.
- Teams must trade future regular draft picks to select players in the supplemental draft.
It appears the NFL supplemental draft is going the way of the dinosaur. Albert Breer tweeted that the league office notified teams that there would not be a supplemental draft held this year.
That’s after no players were taken in the bonus drafts of 2020, 2021, and 2022. There were two players available in this past season’s go around, but neither were selected. Here’s everything you need to know about the league’s lesser-known supplemental draft.
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NFL Supplemental Draft Explained
College players avoiding potential supplemental draft pitfalls
The NFL’s supplemental draft is designed to give players whose eligibility status changed after the deadline to enter the regular draft passed. Former Minnesota Vikings star wide receiver Cris Carter easily ranks as the most famous supplemental draftee and the only Hall of Famer to go that route.
Despite having the most catches in Ohio State history when he left, Carter was forced into the supplemental draft because he signed a contract with an agent. That fateful signature also caused him to miss his senior season with the Buckeyes. Other notable supplemental players include Bernie Kosar, Josh Gordon, and Ahmad Brooks.
However, with the dearth of players selected in recent years, it’s clear that players have gotten better at keeping their draft eligibility intact. If teams take a player in a particular round of the supplemental draft, they must forfeit that round’s pick in the following year’s regular draft. The last player to be taken was safety Jalen Thompson by the Arizona Cardinals in 2019.
Source: Albert Breer
All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.
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