It is (sort of) NFL Draft Day!

The NFL has announced the annual Supplemental Draft will be held this afternoon, July 11. This year, there are five players eligible for selection: Virginia Tech defensive back Adonis Alexander, Western Michigan defensive back Sam Beal, Mississippi State defensive back Brandon Bryant, Grand Valley State running back Martayveus Carter, and Oregon State linebacker Bright Ugwoegbu.

The Supplemental Draft is different than the regular NFL Draft in that the teams do not meet in one location, and it is not a live event. If a team wants to select a player, they submit a bid indicating in which round they would make the pick. The NFL then awards the player to the team that submitted the earliest pick, with teams bidding in the same round tie-broken through a draft order similar to the regular Draft’s selection order. If a team is awarded a player, they then lose a draft choice from the next year’s regular Draft from the round in which the supplmental pick was made.

The last supplemental pick was made in 2015, with the St. Louis Rams using a fifth-round selection from 2016 to add tackle Isaiah Battle. The Supplemental Draft is typically a non-news event, with any players eligible simply becoming free agents after not being selected. This year, however, Alexander and Beal are both expected to draw enough attention that teams could make bids for his services. In the history of the Supplemental Draft, starting in 1977, however, only 43 players have been selected, so it is no sure thing.

The Draft will be “held” at 1pm ET today, with teams submitting their bids around that time. The news of any players being selected - or if all five players will become undrafted free agents - should be released shortly thereafter.