NFL draft rule change sparks GM concerns about rushing picks

For the first time since 2008, the NFL reduced the time teams get between first-round picks at the draft.

When the 2026 NFL Draft begins on Thursday, April 23, there will be eight minutes between first-round selections, down from 10 minutes. Before 2008, teams received 15 minutes to make their decisions.

The most recent rule change worries at least one NFL general manager, according to Pro Football Talk.

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“I’d love to have 10 minutes, but it’s the same for everybody else,” Pittsburgh Steelers GM Omar Khan said. “Eight minutes is what it is, but those two minutes, it feels like an eternity sometimes.”

The concern is not so much about deciding which player to draft, but about having time to discuss and evaluate trade possibilities.

“Naturally we’ve been having more conversations to set parameters of what the value is if you move up to this spot or trade back,” Khan said. “There’s more conversation, but until we get there, I’m not sure how that’s going to go.”

Khan’s new head coach, Mike McCarthy, joked that he gets just 40 seconds to call a play. “We’ll be fine,” McCarthy said.

Timing for picks in Rounds 2-7 remains the same. Teams get seven minutes between picks in Round 2, five minutes in Rounds 3-6 and four minutes in Round 7.

According to an article in The Spun, many NFL fans think eight minutes between picks in the first round is still too long. Evidently, they want to hear the ESPN jingle on repeat.

“Eight minutes feels like too long, still. I’d move it down to five,” a fan suggested. “We don’t need to wait that long. Make it five or six minutes at most,” another shared.

Tune in to the first round of the NFL draft at 8 p.m. ET Thursday on ESPN, NFL Network or the ESPN app.