List of NFL drafts

The NFL draft, officially known as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting",^[1][2][3] is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment.^[4] The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings; the teams with the worst win–loss records receive the earliest picks. Teams that qualified for the NFL playoffs select after non-qualifiers, and their order depends on how far they advanced, using their regular season record as a tie-breaker. The final two selections in the first round are reserved for the Super Bowl runner-up and champion. Draft picks are tradable and players or other picks can be acquired with them.^[5]

In 1936, the league introduced the NFL draft after team owners voted on it in 1935.^[6][7] The intention of the draft is to make the NFL more competitive, as some teams had an advantage in signing players.^[5][7] From 1947 through 1958 the NFL designated the first overall selection as a "bonus" or "lottery pick". The pick was awarded by a random draw and the winner who received the "bonus pick" forfeited its selection in the final round of the draft and became ineligible for future draws. The system was abolished prior to the 1959 NFL draft, as all twelve teams in the league at the time had received a bonus choice.^[8][9]

List of drafts by year

Draft	Date	Rds.	Picks[10]	City	First overall selection	Hall of Famers[10]	Ref.
1936	February 8, 1936	9	81	Philadelphia, PA	Jay Berwanger	4	[11]
1937	December 12, 1936	10	100	New York, NY	Sam Francis	2	[12]
1938	December 12, 1937	12	110	Chicago, IL	Corbett Davis	2	[13]
1939	December 9, 1938	22	200	New York, NY	Ki Aldrich	1	[14]
1940	December 9, 1939	22	200	Milwaukee, WI	George Cafego	2	[15]
1941	December 10, 1940	22	204	Washington, DC	Tom Harmon	1	[16]
1942	December 22, 1941	22	200	Chicago, IL	Bill Dudley	1	[17]
1943	April 8, 1943	32	300	Chicago, IL	Frank Sinkwich	0	[18]
1944	April 19, 1944	32	330	Philadelphia, PA	Angelo Bertelli	3	[19]
1945	April 8, 1945	32	330	New York, NY	Charley Trippi	5	[20]
1946	January 14, 1946	32	300	New York, NY	Frank Dancewicz	1	[21]
1947	December 16, 1946	32	300	New York, NY	Bob Fenimore	2	[22]
1948	December 19, 1947	32	300	Pittsburgh, PA	Harry Gilmer	3	[23]
1949	December 21, 1948	25	251	Philadelphia, PA	Chuck Bednarik	4	[24]
1950	January 20–21, 1950	30	391	Philadelphia, PA	Leon Hart	5	[25]
1951	January 18–19, 1951	30	362	Chicago, IL	Kyle Rote	8	[26]
1952	January 17, 1952	30	360	New York, NY	Bill Wade	4	[27]
1953	January 22, 1953	30	360	Philadelphia, PA	Harry Babcock	8	[28]
1954	January 28, 1954	30	360	Philadelphia, PA	Bobby Garrett	1	[29]
1955	January 27–28, 1955	30	360	New York, NY	George Shaw	1	[30]
1956	November 28, 1955, January 17–18, 1956	30	360	Philadelphia, PA Los Angeles, CA	Gary Glick	4	[31]
1957	November 26, 1956, January 31, 1957	30	360	Philadelphia, PA	Paul Hornung	9	[32]
1958	December 2, 1957, January 28, 1958	30	360	Philadelphia, PA	King Hill	4	[33]
1959	December 1, 1958, January 21, 1959	30	360	Philadelphia, PA	Randy Duncan	1	[34]
1960	November 30, 1959	20	240	Philadelphia, PA	Billy Cannon	2	[35]
1961	December 27–28, 1960	20	280	Philadelphia, PA	Tommy Mason	7	[36]
1962	December 4, 1961	20	280	Chicago, IL	Ernie Davis	2	[37]
1963	December 3, 1962	20	280	Chicago, IL	Terry Baker	5	[38]
1964	December 2, 1963	20	280	Chicago, IL	Dave Parks	11	[39]
1965	November 28, 1964	20	280	New York, NY	Tucker Frederickson	5	[40]
1966	November 27, 1965	20	305	New York, NY	Tommy Nobis	1	[41]
1967	March 14–15, 1967	17	445	New York, NY	Bubba Smith	8	[42]
1968	January 30–31, 1968	17	462	New York, NY	Ron Yary	8	[43]
1969	January 28–29, 1969	17	442	New York, NY	O. J. Simpson	5	[44]
1970	January 27–28, 1970	17	442	New York, NY	Terry Bradshaw	2	[45]
1971	January 28–29, 1971	17	442	New York, NY	Jim Plunkett	4	[46]
1972	February 1–2, 1972	17	442	New York, NY	Walt Patulski	1	[47]
1973	January 30–31, 1973	17	442	New York, NY	John Matuszak	4	[48]
1974	January 29–30, 1974	17	442	New York, NY	Ed "Too Tall" Jones	5	[49]
1975	January 28–29, 1975	17	442	New York, NY	Steve Bartkowski	3	[50]
1976	April 8–9, 1976	17	487	New York, NY	Lee Roy Selmon	5	[51]
1977	May 3–4, 1977	12	335	New York, NY	Ricky Bell	1	[52]
1978	May 2–3, 1978	12	334	New York, NY	Earl Campbell	3	[53]
1979	May 3–4, 1979	12	330	New York, NY	Tom Cousineau	3	[54]
1980	April 29–30, 1980	12	333	New York, NY	Billy Sims	3	[55]
1981	April 28–29, 1981	12	332	New York, NY	George Rogers	6	[56]
1982	April 27–28, 1982	12	334	New York, NY	Kenneth Sims	3	[57]
1983	April 26–27, 1983	12	335	New York, NY	John Elway	7	[58]
1984	May 1–2, 1984	12	336	New York, NY	Irving Fryar	0	[59]
1985	April 30 – May 1, 1985	12	336	New York, NY	Bruce Smith	5	[60]
1986	April 29–30, 1986	12	333	New York, NY	Bo Jackson	1	[61]
1987	April 28–29, 1987	12	335	New York, NY	Vinny Testaverde	1	[62]
1988	April 24–25, 1988	12	333	New York, NY	Aundray Bruce	5	[63]
1989	April 23–24, 1989	12	335	New York, NY	Troy Aikman	4	[64]
1990	April 22–23, 1990	12	332	New York, NY	Jeff George	4	[65]
1991	April 21–22, 1991	12	334	New York, NY	Russell Maryland	2	[66]
1992	April 26–27, 1992	12	336	New York, NY	Steve Emtman	0	[67]
1993	April 25–26, 1993	8	224	New York, NY	Drew Bledsoe	5	[68]
1994	April 24–25, 1994	7	222	New York, NY	Dan Wilkinson	5	[69]
1995	April 22–23, 1995	7	249	New York, NY	Ki-Jana Carter	6	[70]
1996	April 20–21, 1996	7	254	New York, NY	Keyshawn Johnson	5	[71]
1997	April 19–20, 1997	7	240	New York, NY	Orlando Pace	4	[72]
1998	April 18–19, 1998	7	241	New York, NY	Peyton Manning	4	[73]
1999	April 17–18, 1999	7	253	New York, NY	Tim Couch	2	[74]
2000	April 15–16, 2000	7	254	New York, NY	Courtney Brown	1	[75]
2001	April 21–22, 2001	7	246	New York, NY	Michael Vick	3	[76]
2002	April 20–21, 2002	7	261	New York, NY	David Carr	1	[77]
2003	April 26–27, 2003	7	262	New York, NY	Carson Palmer	1	[78]
2004	April 24–25, 2004	7	255	New York, NY	Eli Manning	0	[79]
2005	April 23–24, 2005	7	255	New York, NY	Alex Smith	0	[80]
2006	April 29–30, 2006	7	255	New York, NY	Mario Williams	0	[81]
2007	April 28–29, 2007	7	255	New York, NY	JaMarcus Russell	4	[82]
2008	April 26–27, 2008	7	252	New York, NY	Jake Long	0	[83]
2009	April 25–26, 2009	7	256	New York, NY	Matthew Stafford	0	[84]
2010	April 22–24, 2010	7	255	New York, NY	Sam Bradford	0	[85]
2011	April 28–30, 2011	7	254	New York, NY	Cam Newton	0	[86]
2012	April 26–28, 2012	7	253	New York, NY	Andrew Luck	0	[87]
2013	April 25–27, 2013	7	254	New York, NY	Eric Fisher	0	[88]
2014	May 8–10, 2014	7	256	New York, NY	Jadeveon Clowney	0	[89]
2015	April 30 – May 2, 2015	7	256	Chicago, IL	Jameis Winston	0	[90]
2016	April 28–30, 2016	7	253	Chicago, IL	Jared Goff	0	[91][92]
2017	April 27–29, 2017	7	253	Philadelphia, PA	Myles Garrett	0	[93][94]
2018	April 26–28, 2018	7	256	Arlington, TX	Baker Mayfield	0	[95][96]
2019	April 25–27, 2019	7	254	Nashville, TN	Kyler Murray	0	[97][98]
2020	April 23–25, 2020	7	255	Various[a][99]	Joe Burrow	0	[100]
2021	April 29 – May 1, 2021	7	259	Cleveland, OH	Trevor Lawrence	0	[101][102]
2022	April 28–30, 2022	7	262	Paradise, NV	Travon Walker	0	[103][104]
2023	April 27–29, 2023	7	259	Kansas City, MO	Bryce Young	0	[105][106]
2024	April 25–27, 2024	7	257	Detroit, MI	Caleb Williams	0	[107][108]
2025	April 24–26, 2025	7	257	Green Bay, WI	Cam Ward	0	[109]

Notes

1. Originally to be held at Caesars Palace in Paradise, Nevada, the NFL canceled all live activities and the draft was replaced by video conference calls from player's homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

See also

• Drafts in sports
• List of professional American football drafts
• List of NFL draft broadcasters
• List of first overall NFL draft picks
• List of second overall NFL draft picks
• Mr. Irrelevant