The 2025 NFL Draft was the second-most viewed draft in history, averaging 7.5 million viewers across all three days.

A projected first-round pick can fall to the fifth round and still fare well, while a Top-10 pick could never reach his full potential.

The draft brings all 32 teams together every spring, with them selecting players in a predetermined order across seven rounds, moving strategically in a three-day event.

The NFL has particular rules for each part of the process. 

The 32 teams receive one pick per round across seven rounds, and the order is determined in reverse order. While the team ranking last picks first, and the Super Bowl Champions pick last. 

“Teams that didn’t qualify for the playoffs are assigned draft slots 1. The order is determined by the standings at the end of the regular season: The club with the worst record will pick first, and the one with the best record will pick 20th”, per the NFL's Official Operations Website.

The playoff teams fill the slots from 21 through 32 based on how far they have advanced in the postseason. 

The first round starts at 8 pm ET on April 23, 2026, with each team getting eight minutes to submit their pick. The second and third rounds follow on April 24, 2026, with seven minutes and five minutes per selection, respectively. 

The fourth through the seventh rounds wrap up on the last day of the draft, April 25, 2026, with teams given four or five minutes per pick, depending on the round. 

The pick becomes official when the team’s representative writes the player's name on a card and hands it to an NFL runner for submission. 

Now, let's talk about how the trades work.

Teams can use draft picks to select players for trades. To improve their roster or draft position, clubs may swap picks and active players at any time. During the draft, both teams must report identical trade terms to the league’s head table for official approval before the deal is announced to the public.

The NFL's Player Eligibility Rules Separate The Draft Class From Everyone Else

To enter the draft, a player must have been out of high school for at least 3 years and must have exhausted their college eligibility before the next college football season begins.

Underclassmen can apply to enter early, but they must declare their intentions within seven days of the NCAA National Championship Game.

The NFL's Player Personnel staff verifies the eligibility of roughly 3,000 college prospects each year, working directly with NCAA compliance departments at universities across the country.

Every player drafted on those three days in April has been confirmed eligible before a single card hits the runner's hand.

The process sounds mechanical - cards, runners, clocks, and phone calls, but beneath all of it is decades' worth of franchise decisions being made in minutes.

You can read more at the Dallas Cowboys Community!

Written by

Archana Ramakrishnan

Edited by

Kalp Thaker