NFL Draft picks schedule 2026: What time to expect every team's selection in Round 1 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
On Thursday, the 2026 NFL Draft will begin in Pittsburgh. Roger Goodell and his league have looked to improve how long the first round takes after changing the time limit for the first time since 2008.
This year, the maximum time per first round selection is eight minutes, which is two minutes shorter than in previous years. A first draft night that often ended after 11:30 p.m. ET will look to end prior to 11 p.m. to the delight of viewers.
However, it remains to be seen if teams will take the full duration of their pick limit in this rule's inception, due to not being used to a shortened maximum. There may be some adjustments needed to be made, but it is acceptable to predict that each pick this year will take around five minutes.
Here is the rundown on when to hear your team's selection, and a quick recap of the first-round draft order.
NFL DRAFT RANKINGS 2026:QBs | WRs | TEs | EDGE | RBs
The NFL Draft will begin on Thursday night at around 8 p.m. ET in Pittsburgh, Pa. The Las Vegas Raiders will almost certainly take 2025 Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick, followed by the New York Jets taking either David Bailey or Arvell Reese. This year, six teams will have two first-round draft selections (Jets, New York Giants, Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, and Dallas Cowboys).
Here is who will be drafting from the first 32 spots in this year's opening round of the NFL Draft.
For the first time since 2008, the NFL announced that it was shortening the first round selection time. This year marks the first time in NFL history that the maximum time per first-round pick will be eight minutes. From 2008-2025, the draft's first round had 10 minutes allocated to each team's first-round draft decision.
Last year's draft ended at around 11:43 p.m. ET, so with this new change, the end time has the potential to move up even further. Teams don't usually take the full time designated for their draft selection, but that remains to be seen with a shorter time to make a decision or field calls about trading picks.
Just off of maximum time alone, the league has saved a ceiling of 64 minutes (two minutes per 32 picks). The other rounds of the draft have not seen changes to the maximum time allocated per pick.
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When last year's first-round pick maximum was set to 10 minutes, the draft ended at 11:43 p.m. ET. The new changes, which stipulate just eight minutes between selections, should save the league a maximum of 64 minutes (two minutes less per pick across 32 picks). This year, it can be predicted that the first round will end around 10:40 p.m. ET, meaning the opening round will take about 160 total minutes to conclude.
This projected duration, divided among the NFL's 32 teams, comes out to about five minutes per team. With each pick taking a projected five of the eight minutes, here is a projection of when each team's selection will be announced (all times Eastern).
Pick No. 10 (New York Giants, from CIN): 8:50 p.m.
Pick No. 13 (Los Angeles Rams, from ATL): 9:05 p.m.
Pick No. 16 (New York Jets, from IND): 9:20 p.m.
Pick No. 24 (Cleveland Browns, from JAX): 10:00 p.m.
Pick No. 29 (Kansas City Chiefs, from LAR): 10:25 p.m.
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