NFL Draft will still take place on scheduled dates in late April
Mar 26, 2020, 5:52 PM
Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray shows off his new jersey after the Arizona Cardinals selected Murray in the first round at the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 25, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
The National Football League announced Thursday that the 2020 NFL Draft will still be taking place at the scheduled time of April 23-25.
The coronavirus currently has NFL teams staying at home, and that doesn’t necessarily block the league’s ability to get the draft done.
The NFL had already previously canceled the public events related to the draft and announced the draft will take place in a different capacity that meets the requirements of the CDC’s social distancing guidelines.
In a league memo, the NFL said that teams must plan on meeting somewhere outside of their facility with only a certain number of staff members present and have technology in place to communicate with other teams and the league.
General managers, though, are concerned about the amount of preparation they have not been able to get done while working from home and not at the team facilities.
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ESPN’s Dianna Russini and Adam Schefter reported Tuesday that the NFL’s general manager subcommittee had a unanimous vote to push back the draft date because of those concerns, only for the league to reject that and proceed as planned.
On top of team staffs being restricted by working outside the facility, pro days held by schools across the country will likely never come to be, and the same is likely for in-person meetings with prospects outside of those previously done at the NFL Combine.
The NFL did note in the memo that there is still a chance teams will be allowed access back to their facilities to work in a limited capacity, but the league is on standby like the rest of the country as more information comes to light on the virus.
