How Does The NFL Supplemental Draft Work?

Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

The 2013 NFL Supplemental Draft is today and that means many Chiefs fans and NFL fans in general, will be scratching their heads trying to figure out how the whole process works.

The Supplemental Draft, unlike the regular draft, does not come with as much wide appeal and fanfare. There won’t be live coverage on ESPN and NFL Network for hours leading up to and during the event. There won’t be any mock drafts or Mel Kiper/Todd McShay debates.

That is because the Supplemental Draft is usually a bust in terms of interest and sizzle.

The players in the Supplemental Draft usually come with some kind of baggage. Often times, they are players that got kicked off their teams or suspended because of rules violations, behavioral problems or both. If a player plans on staying in college and then gets kicked off their team after the regular NFL Draft, they become a good candidate to enter the Supplemental Draft.

The Supplemental Draft works like a sort of auction. There are seven rounds, just like in the regular NFL Draft. It even follows the same NFL draft order that we saw in April.

Here is how it works.

The Chiefs hold the first overall pick in round one. When the supplemental draft begins, KC can choose to select any of the six players available. That would mean the Chiefs would be using their 2014 first-round pick. Since KC has the first pick, they would be awarded the player and the draft would continue with the Jacksonville Jaguars being on the clock.

Now there isn’t a snowballs chance in hell that the Chiefs or any other NFL team, is going o fork over a 2014 first-round pick for any of the players in this year’s draft. Most of the teams will pass on making a selection until very late in the draft.

With this group of players, the action could come in the sixth and seventh rounds. If a team likes a player enough, they can choose to select him. They will only be awarded the player, however, if none of the other teams that picked before them in the round also selected the player.

For instance, say the Chiefs held the 10th pick in the sixth round and the Raiders held the 9th pick. Both teams could select the same player, because the draft is blind and done over email. The team with the highest draft slot, in this case the Raiders, would be awarded the player.

The NFL doesn’t usually leak if teams selected a player but was not awarded him. So there is a chance that the Chiefs have tried to select players int eh Supplemental Draft before but we never found our about it.

This year, the Chiefs are picking high in each round so if there is a guy they want, they will probably be able to get him.

That said, don’t expect much, if any, action today. There are only two players in the Supplemental Draft that analysts think could be selected and both are projected to be taken in the sixth or seventh round, if they are taken at all.

NFL teams hate forking over draft picks, especially for players with baggage. Chances are, most or all of these players will be undrafted free agents at the conclusion of the Supplemental Draft so unless a team is really in love with one of these guys, or Al Davis returns from the dead, I doubt we will see a selection this afternoon.

Here is the list of eligible players:

WR O.J. Ross, Purdue
DB Damond Smith, South Alabama
WR Dewayne Peace, Houston
DE Toby Jackson, Central Florida
DT Nate Holloway, UNLV
DE James Boyd, UNLV

What do you think, Addicts? Should the Chiefs target any of these guys?