NFL cancels supplemental draft for second straight year

The league will not hold a supplemental draft in 2021, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported.

The NFL won’t hold a supplemental draft in 2021, per source.

Under the CBA, it’s up to the league and for the second straight year it won’t have one.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 29, 2021

Under the league’s collective bargaining agreement, the NFL has the right to decide whether to conduct a supplemental draft each year. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the league decided against holding the event.

Since the league cancelled last year’s supplemental draft, it had to inform prospective supplemental draft picks they would not gain free-agent status but could instead enter the 2021 draft.

Essentially, those looking to latch on with a team in the summer instead had to wait nine months for a chance. It is realistic to expect the league to deliver the same directive to those hoping to enter the supplemental draft this year.

While the NFL Draft is widely the more popular period on the offseason calendar for the injection of new blood into the league, the supplemental draft (typically held in July) is designed as an alternative avenue for some collegiate prospects to go pro.

The supplemental draft is an alternative for players who weren’t eligible for the draft proper but saw their status change in the aftermath of the event. Teams bid against one another and forfeit a draft pick in the following draft depending on the round in which they selected the player.

For example, safety Jalen Thompson was the most recent supplemental pick in 2019 as the Arizona Cardinals selected him in the fifth round, meaning they surrendered a fifth-rounder in the 2020 NFL Draft.