2024 NFL Draft: Schedule, dates, order, venue, how to watch & more

Everything you need to know about the 2024 NFL Draft as Detroit, Michigan, plays host to the undoubted highlight of the American Football off-season this week.

2024 NFL Draft - Explained

What is the 2024 NFL Draft?

The NFL Draft is the annual highlight of the league's off-season calendar as all 32 NFL teams bid to strengthen their groups by taking their pick from hundreds of college football's top prospects.

The annual event serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the NFL, with each of the 32 teams designated one selection across all seven rounds of the Draft.

Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order relative to its record in the previous year, and from this position, the team can either select a player or trade its position to another team for other draft positions, a player or players, or any combination thereof.

Each of the seven selection rounds are complete when each team has either selected a player or traded its position in the draft.

2024 NFL Draft - Start Date

When does the NFL Draft take place?

The 2024 NFL Draft gets underway in the early hours of Friday, 26th April and will finish in the early hours of Sunday, 28th April.

2024 NFL Draft - Start Time

What time will the NFL Draft picks start?

The first round of the 2024 NFL Draft is scheduled to begin at 01:00 (BST) on Friday, 26th April, 2024. 

2024 NFL Draft - Schedule

What is the schedule for the NFL Draft?

The NFL Draft takes place over a three-day period, with round one filling the full day one schedule, rounds two and three take place across day two, whilst rounds four, five, six and seven all feature on day three.

• Round 1: Friday, 26th April at 01:00 (BST).
• Rounds 2 & 3: Saturday, 27th April at 01:00 (BST).
• Rounds 4 - 7: Sunday, 28th April at 17:00 (BST).
  
  

2024 NFL Draft - Location and Venue

Where is the NFL Draft taking place?

The 2024 draft will take place at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit, Michigan.

Last year's draft, which took place in Kansas, welcomed more than 312,000 fans with an estimated 54 million viewers across the world taking in the action on TV.

2024 NFL Draft - How to Watch & TV Details

How can I watch the NFL Draft in the UK?

The NFL Draft will be broadcast live on Sky Sports NFL, whilst NFL Game Pass subscribers can live stream all of the action.

2024 NFL Draft - Order

How is the NFL Draft order determined?

The NFL Draft order is determined by the reverse order of finish in the previous season.

This means the team with the worst record gets the first pick, the second-worst team picks second, and so on.

However, teams are able to trade players for picks, as is the case this year, whereby both Chicago Beards and Arizona Cardinals will each carry two first round picks.

In a further twist, teams have the opportunity to offer up picks to other teams during the Draft, should they wish, to move up the board in a bid to land a player of interest.

Who has the first pick in the NFL Draft?

Chicago Bears have first pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The Bears had the first overall pick last year but traded it away to Carolina, with the Panthers selecting QB Bryce Young. 

Chicago got Carolina’s 2024 first round pick as part of that trade and will now select first overall this year after the Panthers finished with the worst record in the NFL last season.

2024 NFL Draft - Round 1 Order

1. Chicago Bears (via Carolina Panthers)
2. Washington Commanders
3. New England Patriots
4. Arizona Cardinals
5. Los Angeles Chargers
6. New York Giants
7. Tennessee Titans
8. Atlanta Falcons
9. Chicago Bears
10. New York Jets
11. Minnesota Vikings
12. Denver Broncos
13. Las Vegas Raiders
14. New Orleans Saints
15. Indianapolis Colts
16. Seattle Seahawks
17. Jacksonville Jaguars
18. Cincinnati Bengals
19. Los Angeles Rams
20. Pittsburgh Steelers
21. Miami Dolphins
22. Philadelphia Eagles
23. Houston Texas (via Cleveland Browns)
24. Dallas Cowboys
25. Green Bay Packers
26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
27. Arizona Cardinals (via Houston Texans)
28. Buffalo Bills
29. Detroit Lions
30. Baltimore Ravens
31. San Francisco 49ers
32. Kansas City Chiefs
    
    

2024 NFL Draft - Picks

How many picks are there in the NFL Draft?

The NFL Draft has a total of 256 picks; these picks are distributed among the 32 NFL teams over seven rounds.

2024 NFL Draft - Selection Time

How much time do teams get between picks in the NFL Draft?

The length of time that teams have to determine their selections varies between rounds.

For example, in the first round, teams have ten minutes per pick, whereas the time shortens to just seven minutes per pick in the second round.

Round three to six will see each of the teams given five minutes to confirm their selections, whilst in the seventh, and final round, they have just four minutes on the clock.

2024 NFL Draft - Draft Projections & Top Players

Who are the top players in the NFL Draft?

USC quarterback Caleb Williams is projected to go first overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, with Chicago Bears paving the way for his arrival by trading regular starting QB Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers in March.

There are a plethora of highly-coveted QBs in this year's draft however, with North Carolina's Drake Maye and LSU's Jayden Daniels both expected to be captured early.

Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr is regarded as the pick of the wide-receivers in 2024, although Rome Adunze and Malik Nabers have plenty of admirers.

Other players likely to move early are Notre Dame tackle Joe Alt, Penn State tackle Olu Fashanu and Oregon State offensive lineman Taliese Fuaga.