Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Supplemental Draft may provide answers at cornerback

The NFL’s Supplemental Draft  will take place on July 11 and a pair of prospects could fill a hole on the Buccaneers defense.

Typically, the NFL’s Supplemental Draft is an afterthought for most teams. The 2018 supplemental class however, has garnered plenty of attention as a pair of cornerbacks have the league’s attention.

Here is NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks breakdown of how the Draft works:

"To select a player in the supplemental draft, a team will submit a bid with a round value attached to a prospect… The winning bidder agrees to give up the round selection in the following year’s NFL draft."

The Buccaneers have major question marks up and down the depth chart at cornerback. Brent Grimes will be 35 when training camp starts and Vernon Hargreaves III had an abysmal 2017.

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Although the Buccaneers drafted Auburn’s Carlton Davis in the second round, the top-tier prospects available might be too good to pass up.

Every player in the supplemental draft comes with baggage. Whether it be off-the-field issues, or problems academically there are character concerns.

If general manager Jason Licht has confidence in the prospects ability to stay out of trouble, there’s good reason for the Bucs to grab one of these players on July 11.

For Tampa Bay, the Draft could be the place to add more competition at corner. With Virginia Tech’s Adonis Alexander and Western Michigan’s Sam Beal as the two premiere options.

Alexander has terrific size. He is an impressive 6-foot-3 and has a strong 207-pound frame.

He may not fit the mold of the typical Buccaneers corner, but he has the tools to develop into a true number one corner on the outside. If the Bucs are interested, offering up a late-round pick might be the move for a team that needs corner help immediately.

Beal has the eye of even more NFL teams. According to Jamal Spencer of WZZM13, every single NFL team was present to see Beal’s pro day.

It appears the price tag for Beal will be extremely high. He was already touted as the best cornerback of the 2019 class and NFL teams will be itching to get him on board a year ahead of schedule.

The only supplemental selection in Tampa Bay history was defensive tackle Dan Sileo in 1987. He was declared ineligible for his senior season at Miami. The Bucs grabbed him for a third-round pick.

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