After a three-year hiatus, the NFL supplemental draft will return and take place on July 11. ... and maybe, just maybe, is there another Cris Carter out there?
NFL training camps are scheduled to open about two weeks later, including the Baltimore Ravens, who report for camp at the end of July. 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.
The Hall of Famer Carter is at the top of the list of all-timers in this category. Taken by the Eagles and then claimed off waivers by the Vikings, when he gained his greatest fame, Carter is the only player selected in the supplemental draft to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Purdue wide 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 with 57 catches for 732 yards and seven touchdowns for the Boilermakers in 2021.
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 and now choses to turn pro.)
Should the Ravens forfeit a pick in next year’s draft - maybe a late-rounder - to add a player in the supplemental draft? Baltimore is in win-now mode after finishing quarterback Lamar Jackson's contract extension and adding receiver Odell Beckham Jr. With first-year offensive coordinator Todd Monken calling the plays, expectations are high with the eighth-best odds to win the Super Bowl.
Baltimore already has depth at the receiver position with Beckham Jr, Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman, but could still be open to adding players. Jackson has joked that he may throw for 6,000 yards with Monken calling the plays.
There have been standout names who have gone through the supplemental process, with a mixed bag of results, including wide 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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