With many sports like the NBA suspending their seasons, there was speculation that the NFL may delay the start of their offseason activities like free agency and the NFL draft.
That, however, has not been the case as free agency has kicked off, and now the NFL has confirmed that the draft will go on as planned with some changes to the norm.
NFL draft player selection process to proceed April 23-25 without public events in Las Vegas.https://t.co/AO4UiUQPD3 pic.twitter.com/57OmomkAGc
— NFL Draft (@NFLDraft) March 16, 2020
Given the current Covid-19 pandemic in the United States, it isn’t a surprise that the NFL has decided it isn’t a good idea to gather thousands of people in one place. While the exact plans have to still be announced, this will still be a televised event, so for many fans it will be business as usual.
The only thing that really changes for teams is the lack of usual routine leading up to the draft. There will be so much less face-to-face time with prospects with health concerns about frequent traveling and large gatherings of people. Teams will still have videos of players’ pro days, but some scouts will likely miss out on that interaction.
There is no way of knowing how long all of the precautions put in place to potentially stop the spread of this virus will be in place, but having a minimalist NFL draft does help potentially keep the NFL schedule on track while doing their part to slow down the spread. Plus we are still more than a month away from the event taking place, so who knows what will be happening by then.