After a three-year hiatus, the NFL supplemental draft will return and take place on Tuesday, July 11. ... and maybe, just maybe, there's another Cris Carter out there.
This draft is for players who were not eligible for April's draft but whose circumstances have since changed. Currently, there is one prospect but other players could be granted eligibility by the NFL in the near future, something the Buffalo Bills could look to keep an eye on.
A Hall of Famer and eight-time Pro Bowler. Carter is at the top of the list of all-timers in this category. Taken by the Philadelphia Eagles and then claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Vikings, Carter is still the only player selected in the supplemental draft to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Purdue receiver Milton Wright is the lone player eligible as of now. The four-star high school recruit out of Louisville was academically ineligible for the 2022 college season but had a solid season in 2021. A big target, at 6-3, 200 pounds, Wright finished 2021 with 57 catches for 732 yards and seven touchdowns for the Boilermakers.
In the supplemental draft, teams make bids for prospects depending on the round they would pick them in the usual draft. If the bid is accepted, that team gives up their pick in that round in the following year's draft. A player is generally in this position for some off-field oddity or issue. In Wright's case, he was academically ineligible in 2022 but has now chosen to turn pro.
Should the Bills forfeit a pick in next year’s draft - maybe a late-rounder - to add a player in the supplemental draft? In quarterback Josh Allen's sixth season, the Bills are serious Super Bowl contenders, with the third-best odds to win the title.
Buffalo has one of the best receivers in the league in Stefon Diggs, but could still be open to adding players who could help them in win-now mode. The Bills don't have a consistent No. 2 pass catcher to alleviate pressure on Diggs, with Gabe Davis, Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid yet to break-out.
There have been standout names who have gone through the supplemental process, with a mixed bag of results, including receivers Carter and Josh Gordon, quarterbacks Bernie Kosar, Steve Walsh (by Dallas) and Terrelle Pryor, and current Arizona Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson.
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