The 2011 NFL Supplemental Draft is scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. on Monday. It's not certain how many players, if any, will be picked or which teams will submit picks. Even so, there is a lot of intrigue and speculation about what could happen, including with the Detroit Lions.
Perhaps the most interesting discussion with the Lions has been about which picks are available for them to use in the Supplemental Draft. Because they are going to lose a 2012 pick due to their punishment for tampering, there have been a lot of questions about if the Lions can submit a seventh-round selection for a player in the this year's Supplemental Draft. It turns out they can, but there's a catch, as explained by NFL spokesman Greg Aiello.
NFL spokesperson Greg Aiello said the Lions cannot use their sixth-round pick Monday because of their pending punishment for tampering. The Lions can, however, use next year's seventh-round choice if they agree to forfeit their sixth-round selection.
The exact tampering punishment is contingent on what happens in 2011. If the Lions make the playoffs, they will lose a sixth-round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. If they don't make the playoffs, they will lose a seventh-round pick. Since we won't know if the Lions have to give up a pick in the sixth or seventh round until January, the NFL is giving them the option to lose the sixth-rounder now in order to use the seventh-rounder in the Supplemental Draft.
Of course, the Lions may not need to worry about using their own seventh-round pick. As Dave Birkett points out, the Lions received a seventh-round pick from Seattle in exchange for Tyler Polumbus last year, so Detroit could use that selection and not worry about the picks affected by the tampering punishment.