![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.profootballrumors.com\/files\/2020\/03\/USATSI_13984346.jpg\")
<\/a>Rather than the usual 10-minute time limit for teams to make their first-round selections, ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter reports<\/a> there will be an eight-minute limit in 2026. This is being framed as a TV-geared adjustment, as last year\u2019s first round ended at around 11:45pm on the east coast. Teams were on board with the change, per Schefter. Roger Goodell had mentioned this as a possibility in April.<\/p>\nThis represents a second notable trim in pick time for teams\u2019 top selections. In 2009, the league reduced teams\u2019 time on the clock in Round 1 from 15 minutes to 10 minutes. That change came about because the league tried a two-day setup in which the first and second rounds unfolded on the draft\u2019s first day and then Rounds 3-7 commenced on Day 2.<\/p>\n
Even the 15-minute period brought memorable hiccups, as the 2003 draft showed when the Vikings missed their first-round pick. The Jaguars and Panthers jumped them in line, though Minnesota regrouped and chose tackle Bryant McKinnie at No. 9 following the snafu. In 2011, the Ravens \u2014 who had been negotiating a trade with the Bears \u2014 missed their first-round pick, which went to the Chiefs after Baltimore\u2019s 10-minute clock expired. The Ravens ended up OK after that, drafting long-serving cornerback Jimmy Smith one pick later (No. 27).<\/p>\n
This change to eight minutes will truncate teams\u2019 time to pull off trades. Although trade parameters are regularly worked out before draft night \u2014 with some being agreed to before a team goes on the clock \u2014 they only represent framework due to clubs not knowing if coveted players will actually be on the board at the time their pick goes live. As more intel on teams\u2019 processes while on the clock surfaces each year, it will be interesting to know if the new time limit will make an impact.<\/p>\n
This change is less significant than the 15-minute to 10-minute switch 16 years ago, and the 2010 draft broke up the format for TV purposes by dividing the draft into a three-day event \u2014 rather than the two-day run that had been in place for many years. The draft has also seen its place on the calendar fluctuate, with the event not settling into its April slot until 1976. It had previously been held in January and then during the season in prior years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NFL draft has gone through numerous changes throughout its 90-year history. Another will adjust how much time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[17076,64,63,593,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-341116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}