The NFL's Supplemental Draft will take place today, beginning at 1:00 PM EST. The draft will be conducted electronically. Unlike past years, there is a legitimate prospect -- wide receiver Josh Gordon of Baylor -- who is drawing interest from many teams, including the Cleveland Browns.
Many people are unclear as to how the ordering of the supplemental draft is determined. Michael David Smith from Pro Football Talk wrote a post describing the league's lottery-type system, similar to the NBA. Here are the parts that are pertinent to the Browns:
Like the NBA and NHL, the NFL supplemental draft lottery is weighted so that worse teams get a better chance of having the highest picks. The first drawing will feature the 10 teams that won six or fewer games last season: Colts, Rams, Vikings, Browns, Buccaneers, Redskins, Jaguars, Dolphins, Panthers and Bills. The Colts will get their names put in the drawing 32 times, the Rams 31 times, and so on. Those 10 teams are guaranteed to have Top 10 picks, but the lottery will determine the exact order.
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After the order is established through the three drawings, the supplemental draft is conducted with teams going in order, round by round, either passing on their order or making a pick. When a team makes a pick in the supplemental draft, it loses the corresponding pick in next year’s regular draft. So, for instance, if a team takes Baylor receiver Josh Gordon in the third round of the supplemental draft, that team will not have its third-round pick next year.
To summarize, Cleveland will have one of the top ten picks in each round of the supplemental draft. Teams will then place a bid on a player or pass on the opportunity in that particular round. No trades are permitted, and if you use a draft pick, you lose it in the 2013 NFL Draft.
There are eight prospects who have entered the supplemental draft this year, and two of them are projected to be taken. Sports Illustrated has done a good job listing the strengths and weaknesses of each player.
Unfortunately, fans do not really have a way to follow the supplemental draft live. However, feel free to use this as an open thread to discuss news as it comes along later in the day.