The NFL has held a supplemental draft for years for those college players with different circumstances. For whatever reason, those players were not eligible for the April draft or did not declare and wish to enter the NFL.
If a team selects a player in the supplemental draft, they forfeit the pick they have in the following year’s draft in the round they selected the player.
However, for the second year in a row, there will be no supplemental draft, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
It was canceled last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The league is not required to hold one, Pelissero notes, per the collective bargaining agreement with the players.
Because of the pandemic season in 2020, this year’s draft class was smaller than ever.
Supplemental picks are rare. Only 16 players have been selected in the supplemental draft since 1999.
The Arizona Cardinals were the last team to take a player in the supplemental draft. They did so in 1999, selecting safety Jalen Thompson, who starts alongside All-Pro Budda Baker.
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