In New York City on Tuesday, June 5, 1984 starting at 10 am EDT, the National Football League held a draft for college seniors who had already signed with either the USFL or the CFL in an attempt to head off a bidding war in its own ranks for USFL and CFL players.
The owners did not want to risk potentially "wasting" picks in the regular draft on players who were already signed by another league, but also wanted to ensure there would not be a large influx of free agent talent in case the new league suddenly collapsed.
The CFL, being a much more established circuit with strict limits on the number of American players on each team, was not as much of a concern, but was included to shield the NFL from potential antitrust litigation that might have arisen had the league targeted a specific rival with a supplemental draft.
While the Los Angeles Express were a modest 8-7 at the time of the draft,[5] their roster was laden with talent.
Only one trade involving supplemental draft picks was consummated, as the Cleveland Browns acquired all three of the Chicago Bears' supplemental picks in exchange for the Browns' selections in the final four rounds of the regular 1984 draft.