The NFL will bring back the supplemental draft this summer
The NFL Supplemental Draft hasn’t been around in the last couple of years, but it will be making a comeback. Dane Brugler of The Athletic tweeted that the event will return this season and is scheduled for July 11.
UPDATE: Supplemental Draft is scheduled for Tuesday, July 11.
Prospects must apply with the league office for eligibility. Milton Wright has been approved. https://t.co/PVQp0s4vp5
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) June 16, 2023
The NFL supplemental draft was created in 1977 by the league and the NFLPA. It was made for players who were not eligible for the main NFL draft for varying circumstances that affected their eligibility. Under the NFL’s CBA, the league gets to decide whether or not to hold the event for players. The last time the supplemental draft occurred was in 2019.
For some teams, the supplemental draft hasn’t had much of an impact. But the New York Jets had success with their only supplemental draft pick in team history, Syracuse wide receiver Rob Moore.
In 1990, the Jets selected Moore in the first round of the draft. Moore would be selected to the NFL All-Rookie team, putting up 692 yards on 44 catches with six touchdowns. Moore received a Pro Bowl nod in his last season with the Jets before going to the Arizona Cardinals, where he’d have a first-team All-Pro season that led to his second Pro Bowl appearance.
Moore is one of only eight players in history to make the Pro Bowl after being selected in the supplemental draft. The most recent is Baylor wide receiver Josh Gordon, selected by the Browns in the second round of the 2012 supplemental draft.
The supplemental draft also gave a wide receiver from Ohio State named Cris Carter a chance to showcase his talents to the NFL. Carter was selected in the fourth round of the 1987 supplemental draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, but it was with the Minnesota Vikings where Carter saw the majority of his career’s success, making eight Pro Bowls on his way to the Hall of Fame.
The last player to be chosen in the supplemental draft was Washington State safety Jalen Thompson, taken by the Arizona Cardinals in 2019.
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