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As mentioned on Monday, six players are eligible for the 2013 NFL Supplemental Draft, which will take place on Thursday. One of those players, South Alabama cornerback Damond Smith, has drawn some interest from the Detroit Lions.
Smith, who started his college football career at Western Michigan and is originally from Inkster, attended the Lions' pre-draft workout for local players back in April. The Lions got their first look at him back then, and they got another look at him on Tuesday, according to Dave Birkett.
Detroit native @DameSmith4 ran 4.4/4.5 40s, jumped 37' at workout today for Thurs's supplemental draft. #Lions among 4 teams w/scouts there
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) July 9, 2013
Smith was set to sign with the Green Bay Packers after going undrafted in April, but it turned out that he wasn't actually eligible for the draft. As a result, he now has to wait and see if a team will decide to spend a future draft pick to get him in the supplemental draft. If not, then he will once again have a chance to sign with the Packers, and it's possible other teams could try to sign him as well.
My guess is that the Lions' interest in Smith is strictly related to adding him as an undrafted free agent. They have already drafted four cornerbacks in the last two years (Bill Bentley, Jonte Green, Chris Greenwood and Darius Slay), and there's already a limited amount of roster spots available at that position. I just can't see them using a draft pick on a player who would struggle to even make the 53-man roster, especially when you consider that he would be going into training camp without the benefit of taking part in OTAs and minicamps.