NFL Draft will proceed as scheduled with public events canceled
The NFL Draft will go ahead as scheduled — but in a different format than usual.
In a statement released by the NFL, the league said that they have canceled all public events in Las Vegas surrounding the draft due to the coronavirus pandemic. The selection process will take place and be televised. The league is exploring “innovative” ways to do that process without a crowd or the normal fanfare.
New from the NFL pic.twitter.com/N4Zt35PG8k
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) March 16, 2020
The NFL will have work to do to make this process exciting, but a lot of people will probably be so starved for action that they’ll watch the draft no matter what format it’s in.
We’ll see if teams who are bothered by free agency going ahead feel the same about the NFL’s determination to run the draft on time. The league clearly doesn’t want to fall behind its offseason schedule, for better or worse.