The NFL’s Supplemental Draft isn’t widely understood. In part because it’s hardly existed. The last draft was held in 2023, and the last player selected in one occurred back in 2019 when the Arizona Cardinals nabbed S Jalen Thompson in the fifth round.
Its basics are easy enough. Teams submit bids for the player, and the highest one wins. If a team uses a 4th round pick and gets the player, it gives up its fourth-round pick in next year’s draft.
How about the order? How is that determined? Does it just mirror the NFL draft order?
No. The NFL introduces a new formula.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat writer Greg Auman did the legwork to come up with answers. There are two components: a three-bucket grouping and a lottery inside each.
Per Auman, teams are put into one of three categories: those with 6 or fewer wins the previous year, those with 7-plus wins but failed to make the playoffs, and playoff teams. From there, a lottery is held inside each category to determine the order.
I asked the NFL for the fine print on how selection order within a round is decided for the supplemental draft. Here’s how it works: pic.twitter.com/pljDaAmoX3
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) June 17, 2026
By virtue of winning the AFC North and making the playoffs in 2025, the Steelers are in that third category. Based on Auman’s information, Pittsburgh will have its name included in the third drawing 12 times. In theory, the team could finish as high as 19th, the highest spot for a playoff team, or as low as 32nd overall. In 2026’s regular draft, Pittsburgh picked 21st.
Auman’s information doesn’t outline when that drawing takes place. The order also won’t be made public, so unless media insiders uncover and leak it, the exact lineup will be kept internal.
If Pittsburgh has no intentions of submitting a bid on QB Brendan Sorsby, the order is moot. If they are interested, the order could matter. The Steelers will be behind teams with murky quarterback outlooks, such as the Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals, and New York Jets. Unless, of course, the Steelers submit a higher pick than the others.
As we wrote earlier today, the Steelers have never drafted a college player from the Supplemental Draft, although the team made three selections in the unique 1984 Supplemental Draft.
