NFL Draft 2026: Expected pick times for every team’s first round selection

GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - APRIL 24: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell looks on during the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft at Lambeau Field on April 24, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The 2026 NFL Draft is right around the corner.

And starting this year, you can expect the first round to move a little faster.

Previously, the NFL announced that each team now has just eight minutes to make a selection in the first round, reducing the time allowed for each team by two minutes. This is the first time the league has adjusted the time allowed in the first round since 2008, when the NFL cut the time allotment down to 10 minutes from 15 minutes.

The timing for rounds 2-7 of the 2026 NFL Draft remains unchanged from last year. Teams will have seven minutes to make selections in the second round, five minutes to make their picks in rounds 3-6, and then four minutes in the seventh, and final, round.

Adjusting the time allowed for each pick should considerably shorten the first round, which had been ending around 11:45 p.m. Eastern in each of the last few seasons.

That is a welcome change for those of us on the East Coast.

With the caveat that the exact times depend on how long each team makes to announce their selections, these are the approximate times you can expect the teams currently holding a pick in the first round to make their decisions: