NFL to hold supplemental draft; Purdue WR declared eligible
The Cowboys- along with the other 31 teams in the league will get one more crack at adding collegiate talent next month.
The NFL has reportedly announced that the 2023 supplemental draft will take place virtually on July 11, as per Dane Brugler of The Athletic. The league’s last supplemental draft took place in 2019.
The supplemental draft was designed to accommodate players in unique situations, like being declared ineligible for the upcoming college football season after the regular draft has already taken place. Rather than staying in limbo for a year, a player in those circumstances could formally petition the league to be included in the supplemental draft.
That’s what happened to Purdue wide receiver Milton Wright. He recorded 57 receptions for 732 yards and seven touchdowns in 2021 and would have been the Boilermakers’ top returning receiver in 2022, but he was declared academically ineligible last May and subsequently left the school’s program.
Over three seasons in West Lafayette, he caught 99 balls for 1,325 yards and 10 total touchdowns over 27 games.
A native of Louisville, Wright stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 195 pounds. He’s listed as having a a 4.5 40 time and was thought to perhaps eventually be a Day Two pick had he remained eligible.
As of Friday afternoon, Wright is the only player to have been approved by the league for the supplemental draft, but there could be others before July 11.
For the draft itself, the league’s teams are divided into three groups based on how they finished in the previous season: non-playoff teams with six or fewer wins, non-playoff teams with more than six wins, and playoff teams. Within each group, a draft order is decided by a weighted lottery that gives teams with fewer wins a higher pick.
Teams then blindly submit bids for eligible players, stating the round that team would assign the given player. The team highest in the order who submits the earliest-round bid gets him, and the club then forfeits their pick in that same round in the next regular draft.
The Cowboys have overhauled the top of their WR corps this offseason by trading for Brandin Cooks back in March. He is expected to start opposite CeeDee Lamb, with Michael Gallup also fully healthy and back in the mix after a January 2022 ACL tear.
Past those three, the Cowboys have lots of young question marks at receiver. Second-year man Jalen Tolbert is said to be having a strong offseason, as is Simi Fehoko. Return specialist KaVonate Turpin is thought to be in line for more reps on offense as a pass-catcher. Jalen Brooks was selected out of South Carolina in the seventh round of the regular draft, while Jose Barbon, David Durden, Jalen Moreno-Cropper, and John Stephens Jr. were added as undrafted free agents. Dontario Drummond and Dennis Houston, from last year’s practice squad, are still with the team as well.
The supplemental draft has unearthed a few notable names historically. Wide receiver Josh Gordon was taken by Cleveland in 2012, quarterback Terrelle Pryor was drafted by the Raiders in 2011, and Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter was selected by the Vikings in 1987. Linebacker Brian Bosworth and quarterback Bernie Kosar went in the 1987 and 1985 supplemental drafts respectively, both as first-rounders.
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Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson was the last NFL player taken in a supplemental draft. A fifth-rounder in 2019, he is still with Arizona.
The Cowboys have used the supplemental draft five times in the past. They spent a first-round pick on quarterback Steve Walsh in 1989, famously hedging their bet that No. 1 overall pick Troy Aikman, taken just a few months earlier, might not work out. Running back Mike Lowman (1989), tight end John Davis (1994), defensive tackle Darren Benson (1995), and nose tackle Josh Brent (2010) were also supplemental draft picks by the Cowboys.
Whether the Dallas front office thinks enough of Wright to spend a 2024 draft pick on him to add to their long list of depth receivers is unknown.
