Former Tennessee receiver Malachi Wideman not selected in NFL supplemental draft
The NFL hosted its first supplemental draft in four years on Tuesday, but no players were selected by any team per ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter.
Only two prospects were eligible to be drafted --- former Jackson State and Tennessee wide receiver Malachi Wideman and former Purdue wide receiver Milton Wright. After going undrafted, they are free agents. If they had been selected, the NFL team would have had to give up a corresponding pick in next year's NFL draft.
The supplemental draft is for draft-eligible players who didn't enter the NFL draft and are unable to return to college football. Wideman began his collegiate career at Tennessee in 2020, playing only six games and catching one pass, before transferring to Jackson State.
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The 6-foot-5 190-pound receiver played a prominent role in the Tigers offense during the 2021 season under Deion Sanders. Wideman tied for the SWAC lead with 12 touchdown receptions and caught 34 passes for 540 yards. However, as a junior last season, he caught just three passes for 49 yards with a touchdown.
The most recent NFL supplemental draft took place in 2019, when the Arizona Cardinals selected safety Jalen Thompson in the fifth round. Thompson had been declared ineligible for his final season at Washington State. Other notable players selected in supplemental drafts are former Browns Pro Bowl quarterback Bernie Kosar (1985), Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter (1987) and Pro Bowl wide receiver Josh Gordon (2012).
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Former Tennessee WR Malachi Wideman unpicked in NFL supplemental draft
