PHILADELPHIA – The rare lull in the NFL calendar will get a bit of a boost this year with the return of the supplemental draft after a three-year hiatus.
The exercise is scheduled to be held on July 11 and only one player is in the mix, Purdue receiver Milton Wright.
While the Eagles are unlikely to dip their toes into the water, the door has to be left ajar because wideout is a position of need when it comes to the depth after A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
The fact that Philadelphia also selected one of the best supplemental picks of all time in Cris Carter back in 1987 is also brought up a lot and at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, Wright is similar to Carter when it comes to size. Going back over 35 years has little relevance to the present, however, and it’s always unfair to compare young players to Hall of Famers.
Right now the top receivers behind Brown and Smith in Philadelphia are the embattled Quez Watkins and free agent Olamide Zaccheaus, a South Jersey native and St. Joe’s Prep product. From there you have Britain Covey and Greg Ward as well as Devon Allen, Tyrie Cleveland, Charleston Rambo, and undrafted rookies Joseph Ngata and Jadon Haselwood.
Zaccheaus, Covey, and Ward are best utilized with slot work leaving Watkins, Cleveland, Rambo, Ngata, and Haselwood as potential outside-the-numbers options. Of that latter group, only Watkins is a somewhat proven NFL-level player so there is opportunity.
Wright was ruled academically ineligible for the 2022 season and left Purdue last May. In the 2021 season, he was productive, snaring 57 passes for 732 yards and seven touchdowns.
The supplemental draft rules are a bit different than the traditional draft most are familiar with. If a team wants Wright, they will essentially submit a bid in the form of the round they are willing to invest in the player.
The teams themselves are separated into three groups based on the results of the 2022 season: non-playoff teams with six or fewer wins, non-playoff teams with six or more wins, and the playoff teams.
The team highest in the draft order who submits the earliest-round bid for Wright would be awarded the player and then forfeit a pick in the same round of the 2024 draft.
A former four-star recruit coming out of high school, Wright piled up 1,325 yards and 10 touchdowns on 99 receptions in 29 career games at Purbue, and would have certainly been a draftable commodity had there been no issues with the Boilermakers. The bidding, if there is any, for Wright, would likely be a later-round Day 3 pick.
