Over the weekend, we received some conflicting reports regarding the status of the 2020 NFL Draft, with rumors ranging from business as usual to totally cancelled/postponed. In the middle of that noise, Hub Arkush reported information from his sources that the draft would indeed go on, but not in Las Vegas/publicly. On that part, he was correct.
Here’s the statement from the league:
Update on the 2020 NFL Draft pic.twitter.com/zeibQdPgWu
— NFL (@NFL) March 16, 2020
He was wrong, however, that it would be delayed until May.
According to the NFL’s announcement, all public NFL draft events in Las Vegas have been cancelled, BUT the selection of players will proceed as scheduled from April 23-25th. That decision aligns both with the current status of the world as well as the NFL’s continued ability/decision to operate the league year on schedule. Unlike several other major sports, they’ve been able to more nimbly navigate these uncertain times given where they are in their calendar. And for the most part, I think that’s a good thing.
We don’t yet know how the draft will actually be conducted – some sort of conference call is likely to occur – but we do know that it will be televised in one form or another. For now, that’s the best we can expect. Let’s just hope nothing changes for the worse before then. The draft must go on.