For years, the NFL Draft was basically a long night of “why is this taking so long?” mixed with cold pizza and maybe fans drifting off to sleep. In the early 2000s, a first-round team had fifteen minutes to decide the fate of their franchise. It sounds generous at first until one realised that extra time also leads to overthinking. Like in 2003, when the Vikings literally ran out of the clock and watched two teams jump them. But this year the league decided to finally hit the fast forward. A move that got them both hot and cold reactions.

The NFL trimmed the first-round clock down to eight minutes for 2026, the second major cut in modern draft history after the 2009 shift from 15 to 10. The result was that the entire first round wrapped in 2 hours and 53 minutes. This was a full 36 minutes faster than last year. A move that was highly appreciated by Chris Ballard, the general manager of the .

“Yes, it was great, because we were not there until midnight,” Chris Ballard said, appearing on The Rich Eisen Show. “I mean, we can get it done; we know what we’re going to do. Teams know what they’re going to do. And if we’re gonna make a trade, there’s been enough talk beforehand, and when we get on the clock, we can get it done.” In fact, he even suggested that the league could go further.

“I’m all for cutting it to five if we can do it; I’m alright with it.” Now, the Colts did not have a first-round pick. But given the draft moved much faster, Ballard liked how things looked. As for the fans, they seem to be all up for the change too.

The 2026 First Round was the third most watched day 1 in NFL history. By finishing in just under three hours, the draft stayed in primetime for the entire East Coast, keeping millions of fans engaged who would usually have tuned out by midnight. Meanwhile, shows, like The Pat McAfee Show itself, saw record-breaking engagement. Given the short attention span nowadays, this sprint does make sense.

Things have changed from what they were before. Back in 2007, under Roger Goodell, the first round lasted over 6 hours. In 2008, the time was cut to 10 minutes per pick. The timing for the other rounds has not changed. Teams still get seven minutes in round two, five minutes in rounds three to six, and four minutes in round seven. He explained that teams already spend months preparing for the draft, so they should already know what they want to do when it is their turn.

“If we’ve not got in our minds what we’re doing, like, if we’re on the clock, and we’re still debating who we’re taking, it’s a little late,” Ballard continued. “And even with trade talks, I still think teams are good at it; you know who you’re dealing with, and you can get all that done. It’s so much easier than it was back in the day, when you had to call in, write the paper, go up to the runner… But I thought it was great. The eight minutes were great.”

While Ballard liked the faster pace,

NFL Draft rule change sparks Steelers reaction

The Pittsburgh Steelers went into the NFL Draft with a clear plan. They were hoping to pick wide receiver Makai Lemon. But things did not go their way. The Philadelphia Eagles moved ahead of them and selected him first.

After that, the Steelers adjusted and used their No. 21 pick to draft Max Iheanachor, an offensive tackle from Arizona State. During this process, GM Omar Khan had to deal with the new draft timing rules. The league reduced the time between first-round picks, and Khan made it clear he preferred the older system.

“I’d love to have 10 minutes, but it’s the same for everybody else,” Khan said. “Eight minutes is what it is, but those two minutes feel like an eternity sometimes.”

Khan explained that because of less time during the draft, teams are now doing more work before the event. They are talking about trades earlier, so they are ready when their turn comes.

“They moved the first round from 10 minutes to eight minutes, so naturally we’ve been having more conversations to set parameters of what the value is if you move up to this spot or trade back,” Khan said. “There’s more conversation, but until we get there, I’m not sure how that’s going to go.”

Meanwhile, Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy said, “I only get 40 seconds to call a play,” McCarthy said. “We’ll be fine.”

In the end, the faster draft may be good for fans, but teams like the Steelers are still adjusting to the pressure it brings.