The 1999 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season.
Five quarterbacks were selected in the first round—Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb, Akili Smith, Daunte Culpepper, and Cade McNown—the second highest amount (along with the 2018 and 2021 drafts) after the six selected in 1983 and 2024. The draft also marked the second time after 1971 that the first three selections were quarterbacks. Only McNabb and Culpepper would have successful careers, while Couch, Smith and McNown are generally regarded as draft busts. McNabb, the most successful of the five, was also the only to appear in a Super Bowl.
The draft also is known for the Ricky Williams trade, which saw the New Orleans Saints trade all six of their draft picks to the Washington Redskins to select running back Ricky Williams fifth overall. New Orleans finished with a 3–13 record following the trade and Williams struggled as a rookie, resulting in the firing of Saints head coach Mike Ditka and general manager Bill Kuharich.
The following is the breakdown of the 253 players selected by position: 32 linebackers 30 wide receivers 24 safeties 23 cornerbacks 23 defensive ends 20 guards19 defensive tackles 19 offensive tackles 16 running backs 13 quarterbacks 12 tight ends10 fullbacks 4 punters 4 centers 3 kickers 1 long snapper
Player selections * Compensatory selection ^ Supplemental compensatory selection ¤ Extra selection awarded to expansion team † Pro BowlerPlayers are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro Bowl at any time in their career. ‡ Hall of FamerPlayers are identified as a Hall of Famer if they have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Notable undrafted players † Pro Bowler
Trades In the explanations below, (PD) indicates trades completed prior to the start of the draft (i.e. Pre-Draft), while (D) denotes trades that took place during the 1999 draft.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Forfeited picks Two selections in the 1999 draft were forfeited:
Supplemental draft A supplemental draft was held in the summer of 1999. For each player selected in the supplemental draft, the team forfeits its pick in that round in the draft of the following season. The New England Patriots were the only team to select a player, selecting cornerback J'Juan Cherry from Arizona State in the fourth round.
Hall of Famers Champ Bailey, cornerback from Georgia taken 1st round 7th overall by the Washington Redskins. Inducted: Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2019. Edgerrin James, running back from Miami (FL) taken 1st round 4th overall by the Indianapolis Colts. Inducted: Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2020.
References Trade references
General references
Notes
External links
NFL.com – 1999 Draft
Pro Football Hall of Fame 1999 NFL Draft Listing at Pro Football Reference