What is the NFL Supplemental Draft? Explaining history, player eligibility & how pick order is determined

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.

MORE: Best players ever picked in NFL Supplemental Draft

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.

MORE: Ranking all 32 draft classes from best (Steelers) to worst (Jets)

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.

MORE: Ranking draft classes by RAS score, from most athletic (Jets) to least (Vikings)

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.

1. Teams with six or fewer wins in the previous season
2. Non-playoff teams with seven-plus wins
3. 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.

MORE: NFL Draft prospects 2024: Big board of top 50 players overall

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