NFL Cancels Supplemental Draft

Decades past its relevance peak, the supplemental draft has seen several cancellations in recent years. Although 2023 did feature supplemental prospects that prompted the NFL to keep the event in place, that is not the case this year.

Once again, the league informed teams (via SI.com’s Albert Breer) no supplemental draft will take place in 2024. This will mark the fourth time in five years the league has nixed the July draft event.

The NFL did hold a supplemental draft last year, but no players were selected. Clubs must give up their corresponding pick in the following April’s draft if they chose a player, and neither of the eligible players — wide receivers Malachi Wideman nor Milton Wright — were selected. The Chargers signed Wright soon after but cut him in September 2023. Wideman received workout opportunities but did not catch on anywhere.

In existence for players whose eligibility statuses have changed in the offseason, the supplemental draft has sent high-quality talent to the NFL. Modern-era players like Josh Gordon, Ahmad Brooks and current Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson used the summer event to bound toward regular NFL work, but few such success stories exist compared to the ones that emerged decades ago.

Some crafty maneuvering gave the Browns Bernie Kosar in the 1985 supplemental draft, while Hall of Famer Cris Carter went to the Eagles in the ’87 supplemental event. College superstar Brian Bosworth (1987), along with Pro Bowlers Bobby Humphrey (’89) and Rob Moore (’90), entered the league through the supplemental draft. The Giants also tabbed Phil Simms‘ heir apparent, Dave Brown, with a first-round supplemental pick in 1992. But this route to becoming an NFL regular is seldom traveled any longer.

Thompson is the only player still active chosen in a supplemental draft. The sixth-year safety has now started 57 games with the Cardinals, remaining in place after Jonathan Gannon‘s 2023 arrival.