Since it last staged the draft at New York’s Radio City Music Hall in 2014, the NFL has created a massive roadshow around its premier offseason event, the NFL Draft — and the 2023 edition in Kansas City will be the biggest yet.

The league is putting the finishing touches on its draft theater in front of KC’s iconic Union Station. The theater is the size of a football field, the largest venue the NFL has ever built for the event.

Fans unable to gain access to the theater can access a viewing area at the National WWI Museum and Memorial. The “draft experience” will provide 10,018 square feet of screens throughout — the largest volume the league has ever used.

The event plans to occupy 3.1 million square feet of overall space and expects 300,000 visitors through the weekend — over 100,000 have already registered for free.

The 2019 NFL Draft generated a record $132.8 million for Nashville, and Kansas City hopes to generate over $100 million from this year’s festivities — a welcome boost for a city with a population of just over 500,000 as of the 2020 U.S. census.

“We’re expecting massive fan support in Kansas City,” ESPN VP of production Seth Markman told FOS. “It’s now become a thing where each city is trying to outdo the last one. It gives more energy to the players on site, but also to our broadcasters.

“It’s almost like being at a game now.”

The New England Patriots had never won a Super Bowl and were coming off an 8-8 season when they selected Tom Brady in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft — after 198 other picks. Six Super Bowl titles later, it’s fair to say things worked out.

Brady was the key factor behind the Pats’ rise from a $172 million purchase in 1994 to the second-most valuable NFL club at $6.4 billion, according to Forbes.

The right choice can change a franchise — but so can a wrong one.

In 2005, the San Francisco 49ers selected quarterback Alex Smith with the first overall pick. Smith led the 49ers to the NFC Championship game in 2011 and presided over four playoff runs after being traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. 

But what if the 49ers had instead looked across the Bay to UC Berkeley quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was visibly crestfallen after dropping to the Green Bay Packers at No. 24?

In 2017, the Chicago Bears traded up for the second-overall pick (swapping their third overall pick with the 49ers) to ensure that they would land North Carolina’s Mitchell Trubisky.

The second team to pick a quarterback that year, the Chiefs, had to settle for Patrick Mahomes with the 10th pick.

Former Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel told Front Office Sports Today that he sees Mahomes-like potential in Florida’s Anthony Richardson, but Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, and Will Levis are considered safer bets. Will another team make an era-defining mistake?

The NFL begins a new chapter today — with all the weight of future history in the balance.

The NFL Draft may have grown into a television extravaganza, but ESPN/ABC and NFL Network won’t be the only ones trying to wring every last dollar from the league’s premier offseason event.

Sports media companies ranging from national radio networks to websites and magazines are trying to milk the annual event for listeners, readers, and page clicks. Over the decades, the Art of the Draft has become a cottage industry, replete with draft gurus, mock drafts, and draft previews.

Both ESPN Radio and Westwood One will offer live coverage from Kansas City, with the former broadcasting Rounds 1-7 on Thursday-Saturday, and the latter only covering the first round. On satellite radio, SiriusXM will offer customers live announcements of every draft choice via its NFL channel covering every round.

ESPN.com already has dozens of draft stories posted online, including draft guru Mel Kiper Jr.’s final Big Board and prospect rankings for the Class of 2023. ProFootballTalk is offering its “one and only mock draft.” 

Bill Simmons’ The Ringer has its “2023 NFL Draft Guide,” with scouting reports by Danny Kelly, as does The Athletic, which delves into each team’s picks, predictions, and needs. Then there’s Cris Collinsworth’s PFF, which has no less than 17 analysts conducting a seven-round mock draft. 

In print, Sports Illustrated is offering a mock draft from NFL Insider Albert Breer, and virtually every major daily newspaper will offer voluminous draft coverage, especially the needs of their local NFL team.

And if you need more tangible resources, Amazon offers dozens of books touting themselves as the “ultimate” draft resource. 

First-round picks can secure life-changing money at the NFL Draft on Thursday night — but their hauls will amount to significantly less than those selected over a decade ago.

In 2010, quarterback Sam Bradford, who was picked first overall by the St. Louis Rams, signed a six-year, $78 million deal with $50 million in guarantees — which remains the largest rookie contract in NFL history. 

After that payday, the NFL’s CBA introduced a revised rookie wage scale in 2011. Cam Newton was the first-overall pick that year, signing a fully guaranteed four-year, $22 million deal with the Carolina Panthers. 

Rookie contracts have steadily gone up over the years with increases in the NFL’s salary cap, but they remain behind the peak levels of the pre-2011 CBA. 

First-rounders are projected to sign deals ranging from as high as $41 million to as low as $12 million this year, according to Spotrac.

• No 1: $41.2 million, $26.9 million signing bonus
• No. 16: $16.4 million, $8.9 million signing bonus
• No. 31: $12.7 million, $6.2 million signing bonus

All first-round picks will sign four-year deals with guaranteed signing bonuses, and teams can extend their contracts for a fifth year. 

Last year’s overall No. 1, Travon Walker, signed a four-year, $37.3 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars, which included a $24.3 million signing bonus.