NFL 2008 Supplemental Draft Canceled

The NFL 2008 Supplemental Draft has been canceled this summer because of few participants. The Supplemental Draft has been an annual mid July event since its inception in 1977. The Supplemental Draft has allowed players who are three years removed from high school to enter the NFL Draft under this special selection process. It has become a little used player process with only marginal prospects over the past decade after supplying some premier prospects during the 1980s.
Last July, ten players applied for this special eligibility with only two players being selected over the event. The San Diego Chargers drafted Georgia cornerback Paul Oliver in the 4th round, and the Baltimore Ravens chose Maryland offensive tackle Jared Gaither in the 5th round. Both of these players were two of the better prospects to enter this process over the past decade. Each should challenge for starting jobs with some further development. Oliver will probably see more time in the Chargers nickel package whereas Gaither will press for the starting job vacated by Pro Bowl tackle Jonathan Ogden who retired this offseason.
This selection process has seen barely one player chosen annually and the NFL Commissioner’s office hopes to terminate this player draft completely in the next player agreement. Players selected in this process cost their club that selection pick in the following springs' NFL Draft. Players chosen in this process are only weeks away from the start of NFL training camps and have missed the vital mini-camps participation that usually makes it difficult to win a roster spot on final cuts in early September.
We want to thank all our customers for their continuous support over the past season and ’08 postseason. We will be attending numerous NFL training camps later this month and the developments and results will be part of the complete NFL season. We will keep full subscribers posted related to the upcoming NFL and college season events as they develop through the next few weeks.