The Detroit Lions haven’t selected a player in the NFL’s annual supplemental draft since taking a shot on defensive back Kevin Robinson back in 1982. They won’t snap that long string this year, either.
There won’t be an opportunity, not with the NFL opting to not hold the supplemental draft in 2021. It’s the second year in a row the league has canceled the special draft, which happens in the summer months after the standard draft.
The supplemental draft is for players who were not eligible for the standard draft but had circumstances change so that they could meet the NFL’s guidelines for eligibility. Teams bid on players who submit for the supplemental draft and the rights are awarded to the team with the highest round of bid. The team then forfeits that round’s pick in the following year’s draft.
Typically only one or two players are selected. The last was in 2019 when the Cardinals selected safety Jalen Thompson from Washington State. Thompson, a part-time starter, has been one of the more successful supplemental picks over the last 25 years.
Robinson never made the Lions, by the way. He cost the team a ninth-round (!) pick in the 1983 NFL draft.
