Some misinformation has been propagated regarding the procedure that will apply to the supplemental draft. At least one national reporter with as many eyes as his network has letters has flatly stated that the same order from the April 2011 draft applies to the 2011 supplemental draft.
It’s not that simple, although I wish it were.
The supplemental draft works like a convoluted combination of a draft and the waiver system.
Priority for the supplemental draft will be determined by a weighted lottery. The weakest club (this year, the Panthers) receives the most chances, with 32. The strongest team (the Packers) gets the fewest, with one.
The order of priority for the six weakest teams is determined first via picking chances from a container, which means that the Panthers will be no lower than sixth. Then, the lottery chances for the remaining 14 non-playoffs teams will be placed in the container and the No. 7 through No. 20 spots will be determined.
Finally, the lottery chances for the 12 postseason teams will be placed in the container to determine the final dozen slots on the priority chart.
The draft then unfolds with each team determining on a round-by-round basis whether to use, before the round begins, the corresponding pick from the 2012 draft. If multiple teams pick the same player in the same round, the priority list determines which team gets the player.
Picks that already have been traded may be exercised by the team that now holds those selections, based on the priority of the team that originally owned the pick. For trades involving conditional picks in 2012, neither team may use the pick in the supplemental draft.
The supplemental draft will be held on Monday, August 22. Six players are available, including most notably Terrelle Pryor.