New NFL Draft Rule Change to Know on Pick Selection Time and Updated Schedule for 2026

The NFL is reportedly planning for a significantly shorter first round of the 2026 draft compared to last year's event.

The league is estimating two hours and 30 minutes of run time after the first round begins at 8 p.m. ET Thursday in Pittsburgh, according to ESPN's Mike Reiss.

That would be about an hour shorter than the first round of the 2025 draft, which lasted for about three and a half hours last April in Green Bay, Reiss noted.

That shortened time frame is expected because teams will have just eight minutes between first-round selections, rather than the 10 minutes they were allotted in 2025.

That marked the NFL's first draft timing change since dropping from 15 minutes to 10 minutes in 2008, according to the league.

The time between picks from the second round and onward remains unchanged from 2025, according to the NFL. Teams will have seven minutes between picks Round 2, five minutes in Rounds 3-6 and four minutes in Round 7.

The Las Vegas Raiders will be first on the clock when the draft kicks off Thursday night. The Raiders are widely expected to start out the event by selecting Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 pick.