The ubiquitous NFL Draft phrase of a team being “on the clock” has new meaning this year, and it’s already causing some concern around the league.
As the NFL’s offseason showcase begins Thursday in Pittsburgh, the league will have a new rule of eight minutes between first-round picks. That limit, initially implemented last December, is down from the prior 10-minute intervals in the first round. Before 2008, teams had 15 minutes between first-round selections.
The new measure is designed to encourage a crisper production for fans, both watching on TV and attending in person, as the first round has historically required nearly four hours to complete. Even before last year’s NFL Draft in Green Bay ended, league commissioner Roger Goodell said on The Pat McAfee Show that, “I started thinking [after the first round] that we should shorten it.”
The television factors are particularly critical, as last year’s first round averaged 13.6 million viewers. That figure was up 11% from 2024, represented the second-highest figure on record for an NFL Draft opener, and was one of the most-watched sports events of the entire year in the U.S. outside of the NFL’s own regular season and playoffs. Reducing late-night attrition from East Coast viewers could boost this year’s number even higher.
The primetime broadcast begins at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Operational Considerations
That push for a tighter first round, however, runs up against the potentially franchise-altering decisions inherent in the NFL Draft, as well as more complexity coming from an expected run of trades. Six teams—the Browns, Chiefs, Cowboys, Dolphins, Giants, and Jets—currently have two first-round picks each, and are particularly eyed as prime candidates to move up or down in the order.
“I’d love to have 10 minutes, but it’s the same for everybody else,” said Steelers GM Omar Khan. “Eight minutes is what it is, but those minutes, it feels like an eternity sometimes.”
Because of that, Khan acknowledged that he and other team GMs have been having more preliminary discussions about potential trades because of the reduced ability to do so during the first round.
“Naturally, we’ve been having more conversations to set parameters of what the value is if you move up to this spot or trade back,” Khan said. “There’s more conversation, but until we get there, I’m not sure how that’s going to go.”
As Khan made those comments in a pre-draft press conference, newly hired Steelers coach Mike McCarthy made a playful jab at his colleague.
“I only get 40 seconds to call a play. We’ll be fine,” McCarthy said.
There will be even tighter intervals after the draft’s first round, though those measures are unchanged from prior years. As has been the case in previous years, there will be seven minutes between picks in the second round, five-minute gaps during rounds 3 through 6, and four minutes in the seventh and final round.
