While the NFL Draft has become a major event that football fans eagerly anticipate each year, there’s another draft that tends to fly under the radar: the Supplemental Draft.
The NFL’s Supplemental Draft last took place in 2023, although no players were selected. The last player selected in the Supplemental Draft was Jalen Thompson in 2019.
A Brief History of the NFL Supplemental Draft
The main NFL Draft is one of the most popular events on the NFL calendar, with more than 50 million viewers tuning in over three days. The Supplemental Draft has been around for a long time, too, beginning in 1977 as another avenue for draft-eligible players to enter the league.
For the first 13 years, from 1977 to 1990, only players who either graduated or exhausted their eligibility were eligible to participate in the Supplemental Draft. However, since 1993, the NFL has allowed players who faced other adversity, including disciplinary reasons, to petition the league for Supplemental Draft entry as well. Basically, the Supplemental Draft is for players who weren’t eligible to be picked at the time of the NFL Draft.
Al Hunter, a former Notre Dame running back, was the first player ever taken in the Supplemental Draft. The Seattle Seahawks used a fourth-round pick on Hunter, who was suspended from the team for disciplinary reasons but was already draft-eligible since he was out of high school for three years.
In total, there have been 46 players drafted in the Supplemental Draft since 1977. In 2019, the Arizona Cardinals used a fifth-round pick on Thompson, who played at Washington State.
There have been eight first-round picks used in the Supplemental Draft, including on Pro Bowlers such as quarterback Bernie Kosar, running back Bobby Humphrey, and wide receiver Rob Moore. The best Supplemental Draft pick of all time, however, was former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Cris Carter, who was a fourth-round selection in 1987.
As of late May, the college football community and NFL teams are monitoring the situation with Texas Tech’s star quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who has taken an indefinite leave to seek treatment at a residential facility for gambling addiction.
There’s a very high possibility that Sorsby might not be allowed to play for Texas Tech this year, and he could instead use the Supplemental Draft to go straight into the NFL.
For Sorsby to be granted entry into the supplemental draft, he must meet three primary criteria:
- Three Years Removed from High School: As a rising senior in 2026, Sorsby easily clears this hurdle.
- Changed Circumstances: Sorsby would need to petition the NFL, arguing that his current situation occurred after the 2026 NFL Draft cycle concluded.
- Loss of Collegiate Eligibility: The NFL rarely allows players to enter the supplemental draft if they still have a viable path to play in college. Sorsby’s entry would likely hinge on the NCAA handing down a permanent ban. If that happens, his college career would be over without playing any games for Texas Tech.
Since NCAA rules generally impose a lifetime ban on athletes who bet on games involving their own school, Sorsby’s case for a change in circumstances is compelling. If Sorsby petitions and the petition is approved, the draft process differs from the April event. Teams then submit blind bids, indicating the round in which they are willing to select him.
How Does the Supplemental Draft Work?
While the main draft works from worst team to best team, the Supplemental Draft has a different way of determining which teams select first. It uses a tier system that splits the league’s 32 teams into three different buckets. Once they’re in tiers, a weighted lottery is used to determine the order within the tiers, favoring teams with worse records.
Here are the three tiers that are used to group teams, with the records pulled from the previous season:
1) Non-playoff teams with six or fewer regular-season wins
2) Non-playoff teams with more than six regular-season wins
3) The 14 teams that made the playoffs
The draft uses a bidding system where teams are blind, not knowing what other teams have submitted. The team with the bid in the highest round with the highest pick will acquire the player and forfeit the corresponding pick in the following NFL Draft.
For example, a player selected in the first round of the Supplemental Draft would cost the team their first-round pick in next year’s NFL Draft.
When Is the 2026 NFL Supplemental Draft, and Why Do Players Enter It?
The date for the 2026 NFL Supplemental Draft hasn’t been confirmed yet, but it is expected to take place in early or mid-July. If Sorsby loses his appeal, he might become the first player since 2019 to get selected in the Supplemental Draft.
Players have entered the Supplemental Draft for a variety of reasons. Of the 46 players selected, 23 had off-field circumstances that influenced their decision to enter the NFL. The majority, however, were academically ineligible, and before the NCAA transfer portal’s expansion, the next-best option was to enter the NFL.
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In recent years, disciplinary reasons that emerged after the deadline to declare for the main draft have been the driving force behind most jumping into the Supplemental Draft. The last player drafted in the Supplemental Draft without such a background was former Florida State guard Milford Brown in 2002.
Before 2002, it was more common for players to enter the Supplemental Draft after using up their competition eligibility but not filing for the NFL Draft in time. The 14 players selected since Brown each faced off-field issues that influenced their decision to enter the NFL during the summer months.
