NFL DRAFT
Why is the NFL Draft 3 days long?
The city of Detroit is ready ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft with more than 400,000 fans expected to descend on Motor City.
NFL Draft 2024 live online: First-round picks, teams, players and big board updates
The 2024 NFL Draft gets underway on Thursday, April 25, and ending on Saturday, 27 April in Detroit (Michigan).
NFL Draft: Three days for seven rounds
Round one of the Draft will be held on Day 1, starting at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on Thursday. In the first round, each team is given 10 minutes to make its pick.
Day 2 will start at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT on Friday, during which rounds two and three will take place. In the second round, teams get seven minutes to make their picks. In round three, the teams are given five minutes each to make their choices.
Day 3 begins at noon ET / 9 a.m. on Saturday, for rounds four to seven. For the fourth to sixth rounds, teams are given five minutes for regular or compensatory picks. And for round seven, they have four minutes to decide on their choice.
If a team lets the time run out without making up their mind on their pick, they can put off their choice for later. But such a postponement could cost them the player they were considering, if the succeeding teams decide to snatch up the athlete they had their eye on.
NFL Draft: Balance between player quality and team need
There are no particular positions that are allotted per pick. Teams may choose whichever player they want, and they can choose on the basis of the quality of a player, or the position that they need to fill.
The NFL dedicates three days to the Draft to give the teams the time they need to make their choices for each round. After all, they have to adjust their choices if their picks are snapped up earlier by other teams.
Bears with first pick
The Chicago Bears are first up with the No. 1 pick and favourites to select Caleb Williams to kick off the 2024 NFL Draft. It will be the first of 257 total selections over a three-day period from Thursday to Saturday.
The Draft moved to a three day extravaganza event from 2010 with the league anxious to compete with the NBA Playoffs. Ratings reinforced the move and the three-day event is now a firm fixture in the US Sports calendar.