The NFL announced this week that it will conduct its first supplemental draft since the 2019 season, scheduled for July 11. In the supplemental draft, teams will choose whether to forfeit a pick in the next year’s draft to add a player The list of players who will be eligible for the supplemental draft is still being finalized but for now there’s just one name: former Purdue Boilermakers wide receiver Milton Wright.
Wright, listed at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, was a steady contributor through his first two years at Purdue but broke out in 2021 with 57 receptions for 732 receiving yards, scoring 9 touchdown catches — trailing only David Bell, a future top-100 draft pick who played a modest role in the weak Cleveland Browns passing offense last year. He’s known as a big target who doesn’t drop many passes, with a high first-down conversion rate (moving the chains on 67 of his 99 receptions), though without much experience lining up from the slot or forcing missed tackles with moves after the catch.
But because Wright was declared academically ineligible in 2022 and didn’t find many options in the transfer portal in 2023, he’s chosen to turn pro. So would he make sense for New Orleans?
The Saints just signed a couple of veteran free agents in Keke Coutee and Lynn Bowden, adding them to a receiving corps that includes new additions like Bryan Edwards, James Washington, and rookies A.T. Perry and Shaquan Davis; plus receivers returning from last year in Michael Thomas, Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Tre’Quan Smith, Keith Kirkwood, and Kawaan Baker.
A complicating factor is the Saints’ future draft picks situation. Even though New Orleans is projected to receive multiple compensatory picks in 2024, those haven’t actually been awarded yet, so they’re off the table. That leaves them with just five picks to spend, in the first, second, fifth, and sixth rounds (owning two sixth-rounders, with one coming from the Philadelphia Eagles).
If the Saints wanted to they could use one of those picks, probably one of their fifth- or sixth-round selections, in a bid to land Wright. But that would leave them with less draft capital to work with until compensatory picks are awarded next March. Their options would be limited leading up to the NFL trade deadline in November.
Whether that’s worth adding another rookie receiver is up to them. Something else to consider is that Wright could be signed as a undrafted free agent if no other team wants to select him during the supplemental draft.
