How does the NFL Draft 2024 work? Rules and format explained
Ever wondered how the NFL Draft works? We've got you covered.
The NFL Draft can be as complex as it is fascinating. The British sporting palette simply isn't attuned to the format, but we're here to help you make sense of it all.
If you've ever wondered how the Draft works and, importantly, why the Americans are so obsessed with the notion of drafting players to their teams, you've come to the right place.
Regardless of your level of experience with the NFL, RadioTimes.com brings you all the details on how the Draft works so you can enjoy the chaos from the comfort of your own home.
How does the NFL Draft work?
The NFL Draft is a system with a twofold purpose. Firstly, it is designed to filter the best college football players into the professional NFL world.
College football is big business across the US, with stadiums topping 100,000 capacities and fans supporting their college teams in the same way UK football fans would follow their local professional team.
However, the time must come for all college players to graduate, and when they do they can choose to declare their availability in the NFL Draft.
Secondly, it seeks to balance out the league to prevent one team dominating every season.
There are 32 teams in the NFL, divided into two conferences. The conferences are then divided into four divisions each.
At the end of the season, all 32 teams' win percentages are ranked in one long list, with the team who has suffered the worst win percentage in No.1 spot descending to the team who wins the Super Bowl in No.32. This becomes the basis of the Draft order.
By allowing the 'worst' team in the NFL to pick the best college players, the NFL constantly tries to rebalance itself.
This long list of 32 teams is then repeated seven times, for the seven rounds of the Draft. Each team starts with seven 'picks', one per round.
The teams each have time on the clock to select one college player from the pool of names available, taking turns in the chosen order to do so, until seven rounds have passed.
Simple, right? Well, the basics are, but this is the NFL, and in the NFL, wheeling and dealing is crucial.
Some teams may prefer to trade their high draft pick for multiple lower picks.
For example, the Las Vegas Raiders are in the market for a quarterback in 2024. However, they are down at No.13, meaning some of the best players will have already gone. In this case, they could trade their No.13 pick along with another pick or two to a team such as the Tennessee Titans for their No.7 overall pick.
This means the Raiders stand a better chance of landing their man, while the Titans, who may not need to draft a top-tier QB, would be happy to wait a few more turns and gain an extra pick(s) in the later rounds.
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On top of trades on the night, a number of draft picks have already been traded throughout the last few seasons for existing professional players.
For example, the Carolina Panthers won't feature in the first round because they already traded away their pick last year. The Panthers traded their 2024 first-round pick (which turned out to be No.1 overall) plus their 2023 first-round pick (No.9 overall), 2023 second-round pick (No.61 overall), 2025 second-round pick and wide receiver DJ Moore to Chicago.
In exchange, they received a solitary 2023 first-round pick (No.1 overall) and used it to pick up Bryce Young, who they clearly believed would become a generational quarterback worth spending lots of Draft capital to acquire him.
That was an extreme example, but it clearly demonstrated the Panthers' and Bears' priorities: the Panthers desperately wanted to plug an elite QB into their existing team, whereas the Bears were happy to be patient, convert one first-round pick into four picks and a wide receiver and now boast a superb hand going into 2024.
For your information, since that blockbuster trade, Bryce Young went on to have one of the worst ever seasons for a No.1 overall pick quarterback. The Panthers fell to 15 defeats in 17 regular season matches and the Chicago Bears, who finished with a 7-10 record, couldn't believe their luck as the first-round pick they acquired became No.1 overall pick.
Had Young – and his team – been successful and won more games, the first-round pick would've been further down the list – and less valuable.
As it stands, the Bears boast a commanding position with the No.1 overall pick as well as their own first-round pick (No.9 overall).
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Authors
Michael Potts is the Sport Editor for Radio Times, covering all of the biggest sporting events across the globe with previews, features, interviews and more. He has worked for Radio Times since 2019 and previously worked on the sport desk at Express.co.uk after starting his career writing features for What Culture. He achieved a first-class degree in Sports Journalism in 2014.
