The first round of the NFL Draft lasts nearly four hours.
While that’s great for diehard football fans and the broadcast executives at ESPN and NFL Network who want to sell ads, it’s not always great for people watching. Fans of teams with later picks or programs with players expected to go later may lose interest as the night goes along.
That led NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to tease a potential change on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday ahead of the second and third rounds.
“I started thinking last night, we’ve gotta shorten it,” Goodell said.
But how? Rather than giving teams a full 10 minutes to lock in their picks, Goodell floated the idea of shortening that to seven minutes — with a hitch.
“I’m making it up, [but] seven minutes first round, but you can get two minutes extra,” he explained. “If you need it, you can call it, but then you don’t get it again the rest of the draft … you get one extension.”
“I started thinking last night that we gotta shorten the draft..
What if we did a 7 minute first round but you can get 2 minutes extra if you need it..
You get one extension but then you don’t get it again for the rest of the draft” ~ @nflcommish #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/xMgAfAV1HP
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 25, 2025
Certainly at the top of the draft, most teams know what they want to do. Even when trades come along, as we saw with Cleveland and Jacksonville at No. 2 this year, those front offices have time to prepare.
But as the night rolls on, things can change quickly. Even with 10 minutes to pick, teams have to think quickly with fallers like Shedeur Sanders or Will Johnson. In the case of a trade-up, like the New York Giants did for Jaxson Dart this year, that can sometimes go down to the wire.
Still, teams have a year to prepare for the draft. They have two-plus months after the Super Bowl and a month after free agency to solidify their big boards and negotiate trades.
If Goodell were to shorten the clock from 10 minutes to seven and teams couldn’t adjust, that probably says more about their preparation than the rules.
And if they aren’t ready when they’re on the clock, Goodell is giving them a get-out-of-jail-free card with the two-minute extension.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.