The NFL’s supplemental draft is back for the first time since 2019 and will take place on Tuesday, July 11. It’s worth keeping an eye on if you’re a Kansas City Chiefs fan.
In 2019, the Cardinals selected Washington State DB Jalen Thompson. The year prior, CBs Sam Beal and Adonis Alexander were both selected.
In the past, some great players entered the league through the supplemental draft. That includes players like Hall of Fame WR Cris Carter, QB Bernie Kosar, QB Steve Walsh, LB Ahmad Brooks, WR Josh Gordon and QB/WR Terrelle Pryor.
This season two prospects have thrown their name into the hat for the supplemental draft. Below you’ll find all of the information you need to know about this year’s supplemental draft:
What is the NFL supplemental draft?
The NFL supplemental draft is exactly how it sounds. It serves as a supplement to the NFL draft that takes place in April.
Players who have been declared ineligible to play college football during the upcoming academic year are given an opportunity to play in the NFL without missing a season. Sometimes this can be academic ineligibility, other times it could be a player waiting to hear if they were granted a medical redshirt or maybe even a suspension that wouldn’t allow them to finish their college careers. There are a number of reasons for players to enter the supplemental draft pool, and it certainly doesn’t always mean they’re a bad egg.
The supplemental draft uses a different format than the regular NFL draft. Instead of having draft picks, teams place bids on players. Each bid has a specific round value attached to it. If a bid is granted that team will forfeit a pick in that draft round during the upcoming NFL draft — in this case the 2024 NFL draft.
As for the draft order, teams are separated into three different categories:
- Teams with 6 or fewer wins
- Non-playoff teams
- Playoff teams
Each group has a lottery to determine the pick order. The teams that performed the worst in the prior season obviously have the greatest chance at obtaining the higher ranked picks within their group.
Bids are only granted if a team has the highest priority pick. So if the Chiefs and Bears were to place a bid of the same value on a player, Chicago would win the bid because they’d have higher priority. As the Super Bowl winner, Kansas City will likely have the lowest priority among playoff teams. That doesn’t necessarily mean the team won’t have an opportunity to add a player, though.
More on that below. . .
Who is eligible for the 2023 NFL supplemental draft?
Jackson State WR Malachi Wideman and Purdue WR Milton Wright were the only two players officially granted eligibility this year, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Wideman is listed at 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds. He began his collegiate career playing for Tennessee, but he transferred to Jackson State after meager production with the Volunteers. In his first season in the SWAC, he recorded 34 catches for 540 yards and 12 scores, with his touchdown marks tying for the conference lead. He dealt with eligibility issues in 2022, limiting him to just six games and not much practice time with the Deion Sanders-led Tigers.
Wright is listed at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds. In three seasons with the Purdue Boilermakers from 2019-2021, Wright recorded 99 catches for over 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns. He missed the entire 2022 college football season after being deemed academically ineligible.
Both players have already worked out for NFL teams, but Wright is the only player who has seen numbers shared publicly. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler is responsible for that:
#Purdue WR Milton Wright (one of two WRs eligible for Tuesday's Supplemental Draft) worked out for NFL teams yesterday. Workout results (per NFL source):
6-1 3/4", 190 lbs
9 1/8, 31 3/4, 77 (Hand/Arm/Wing)
4.69/2.66/1.64 (40/20/10)
7.81 3C
4.69 SS
31" VJ
10'0" Broad— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) July 7, 2023
As for attaching round value to each of these players, it’s hard to see teams investing more than a Day 3 pick. Given Wright’s unimpressive workout and a year off football, I have a hard time seeing a team spending more than a sixth-round bid. Wideman is likely a seventh-round bid, given the level of competition he faced at Jackson State. Teams could be looking at him as a developmental tight end akin to Jody Fortson.
If both Wideman and Wright go undrafted in the supplemental draft they’ll be eligible to sign with any NFL club as an undrafted free agent. The Chiefs worked out Grand Valley State RB Marty Carter back in 2018, after he was not taken in the supplemental draft.
Chiefs supplemental draft history
The Chiefs have only made one selection in the supplemental draft since its inception back in 1977. In 1992, Carl Peterson used a second-round pick to take Florida Gators defensive end Darren Mickell. Mickell only played with the Chiefs for four seasons. He was ultimately traded away because his production didn’t match that commensurate of a second-round pick.
While Mickell was the only player selected by Kansas City in a supplemental draft, they’ve often taken a look at players selected in the supplemental draft once they hit free agency.
Former Chiefs offensive lineman Isaiah Battle was selected in the supplemental draft by the Rams in 2015. Battle spent a brief stint with the Chiefs before the start of the 2017 season and was subsequently traded to the Seahawks for a conditional draft pick.
Josh Gordon, a supplemental draft pick in 2012, spent a brief period of time in Kansas City on the practice squad after being reinstated to the NFL in 2021.
Also in 2021, Adonis Alexander, who was a sixth-round supplemental draft pick by Washington in 2018, had a tryout with the Chiefs at mandatory minicamp.
