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What is the NFL Supplemental Draft? Date, order, rules, history as Brendan Sorsby applies
Jun 17, 2026Michael David SmithPro Football Talk
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Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby, whose lawsuit to regain his NCAA eligibility after he was banned for gambling turned into college football's latest controversy, has officially applied for the NFL supplemental draft. Here we answer some questions about how the supplemental draft works: What is the NFL Supplemental Draft? The supplemental draft is a separate draft that takes place during the summer if a player who was not in the regular draft in April loses his college football eligibility. The NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement states the following: "If a player who was not eligible for the Draft in any League Year becomes eligible after the date of the Draft, he will be eligible to be selected in a Supplemental Draft, if the League elects to conduct such a Draft, on or before the seventh calendar day prior to the opening of the first training camp that League Year. No player may elect to bypass a Draft for which he is eligible to apply for selection in a Supplemental Draft. Any Club that selects a player in a Supplemental Draft must forfeit a choice in the same round in the next succeeding principal Draft." Is Brendan Sorsby in the 2026 NFL Supplemental Draft? Not yet. He has applied, but the NFL's rules state that he's not in the draft until he's approved: "To be eligible for a Supplemental Draft, a player’s petition for special eligibility must be approved by the League office and his name sent to clubs no later than 10 calendar days prior to the last day on which a Supplemental Draft can be conducted." Most league observers expect Sorsby will be approved, but that hasn't happened yet. When is the 2026 NFL Supplemental Draft? On or before July 16. The official date has not yet been determined, but the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement states that if there is a supplemental draft it will take place "on or before the seventh calendar day prior to the opening of the first training camp." The first training camp is expected to open on July 23, which means the supplemental draft would need to take place at least seven days before that, or July 16. 2026 NFL Supplemental Draft order The NFL will conduct a lottery to determine the supplemental draft order, but it's really more like three separate lotteries, in which the worst teams are guaranteed to get the higher picks in the supplemental draft. As the team with the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft, the Raiders will get their name in the lottery 32 times, and then the Jets, with the second overall pick, will get their name in the lottery 31 times, and so on. As the defending Super Bowl champions, the Seahawks will get their name in the lottery one time. But the Raiders and Seahawks won't be in the same lottery. Instead, the Raiders, Jets and the eight other teams that won six or fewer games last season will have their names in one container, and a drawing will be conducted only among those teams to determine the top 10 teams in the supplemental draft priority. Then a second drawing will take place among the eight teams that won at least seven games but missed the playoffs, and those teams will be ordered 11th through 17th, after the teams that won less than seven games, but before the playoff teams. Finally, a third drawing will take place among the 14 playoff teams to determine the rest of the order. NFL Supplemental Draft rules 2026 Teams "bid" on a player by submitting to the league which pick they would be willing to give up in next year's draft for that player. A…