The NFL will hold the 2017 Supplemental Draft next Wednesday, July 12, and two players are eligible. Georgia Military College defensive end Tavares Bingham and Western New Mexico running back Marques Rodgers will be available to all 32 NFL teams.
A player is eligible for the supplemental draft when their eligibility status has changed since the end of that year’s draft. Issues ranging from academic to off-field can result in a player being eligible. They apply for the draft, and then teams submit blind bids to select a player. The NFL uses a lottery to determine order. Teams are weighted based on record, similar to the NBA lottery, but they are broken down into three groups. The first tier is teams with six or fewer wins the previous season (including the 49ers). The second tier is teams with seven or more wins that didn't make the playoffs. The final tier is the 12 playoff teams.
Teams email in the player they want and what round pick they would use. The highest pick gets the player, and that team forfeits the corresponding pick in the next year’s draft. So, if the 49ers wanted one of the players and bid a third round pick, if they were the high (or only) bidder, they would give up a third round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
There is not a whole of information out there about either player. Per Pro Football Talk, Bingham transferred from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, but did not play in 2016. He measures in at 6’4, 290 pounds. Rodgers (5’10, 173 pounds) does not appear to have played in 2016, but he ran for 1,283 yards and caught 61 passes in 2015. He ran for 1,296 yards as a freshman.
The 49ers have spent made five picks in the history of the supplemental draft. In 1978, they selected running back Rod Connors. In 1985, they selected running back Roosevelt Snipes. In 1984, there was a supplemental draft specifically for the folded USFL. In that draft, they selected wide receiver Derrick Crawford, offensive tackle Joe Conwell, and running back Mark Schellen. Current 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was originally selected in the supplemental draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.