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By Tyler Erzberger
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We don’t yet know who will be on the clock first in Pittsburgh when the NFL draft kicks off in April 2026, but we do know they will have less time to choose who they want as the first pick.
The NFL informed all 32 teams today that there will be a major change to one of the biggest annual events of the sports year.
In the first round, teams will now have only 8 minutes to make their selection, down from 10, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
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"The NFL notified teams today that it will shorten the time between picks in the first round of the draft from 10 to 8 minutes starting with the 2026 draft in Pittsburgh," Schefter wrote on X.
"This will shorten the length of the first round, which had been finishing around 11:45p ET. Teams were on board. Roger Goodell had first mentioned this possibility on the Friday of the Green Bay draft on Pat McAfee’s show."
This is a move by the NFL to streamline one of its biggest nights of the year, as the weekday event in recent years has almost bled past midnight on the East Coast.
As the years and decades have gone on, the NFL draft has transformed from a stuffy, backroom business meeting to a full-blown spectacle up there with the Super Bowl, as fans from around the globe travel to what has become almost a festival.
2025’s NFL draft in Green Bay was the second most-watched iteration ever, as the first day alone saw 13.6 million people tune in to watch as Cam Ward went first overall to the Tennessee Titans.
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