The NFL hypes pretty much everything it does. Except the supplemental draft.
The annual midsummer not-so-classic arrives at 1:00 p.m. ET today, with teams permitted on a round-by-round basis to offer up the corresponding pick in next year’s draft for a given player. The player is then awarded through a waivers-type priority, if multiple teams want a player in the same given round.
The whole thing moves quickly, efficiently, electronically. And it shows how quick, efficient, and electronic the April draft could be, if the league wanted to do it that way. Clearly, however, the NFL prefers to make the April draft into a multi-day, multi-network spectacle.
That makes the league’s bare-bones treatment of the supplemental draft even more confusing. Maybe the league doesn’t want to encourage guys to find a way to circumvent the regular draft process and get what would be a far less crowded stage in July.
At one point, the supplemental draft was a much bigger deal. The last time a player of any significance entered the NFL via the supplemental draft happened in 2012, when the Browns used a second-round pick on receiver Josh Gordon.
Today, the thinking is that three of the five eligible players could be picked. Which would be significant. Whatever happens, it will be quick, efficient, and electronic -- and if you blink you may miss it.