2014 Draft set for May 8, 9 and 10

[Mookie]

The NFL draft will be held in May instead of April in 2014, taking place from the 8th to 10th of the month at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, the league officially announced Tuesday.

The league said no decision has been made on changes to dates for the 2015 draft and beyond.

"A variety of alternatives are being explored, teams were told, including holding the draft at Radio City or at other locations, either in the New York area or in other cities," the league said in its statement.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said at the NFL's spring meetings in Boston last week that the league was shifting the draft to May because Radio City Music Hall is scheduled to host an Easter show in April. He also said that he expects the draft to remain in May in future years.

In addition, the NFL said Tuesday that the scouting combine in Indianapolis would be held Feb. 18-25 in Indianapolis and the 2014 league year and free-agency period would begin on March 11. The league's annual meetings will be held in Orlando on March 23-26.

The NFL said the change in the date for the 2014 draft will have no effect on the length of team's offseason programs.

"Clubs will have available to them the same number of practice days that they currently have, and no changes in the offseason calendar are being considered that would reduce the number of practice days or the overall length of the offseason program," the league said.

Thoughts?

 

[Tabascocat]

Wonder if this moves back the off-season camps, i.e. rookie and OTA's. Guess it would have too.

 

[Questfor6]

If anything they should've moved the draft forward a couple of weeks because this is awful. Now we have 2 more weeks of propaganda being thrown around plus its bad enough waiting as a fan for late April, what does Goodell think two more weeks will do for fans?

 

[AbeBeta]

If anything they should've moved the draft forward a couple of weeks because this is awful. Now we have 2 more weeks of propaganda being thrown around plus its bad enough waiting as a fan for late April, what does Goodell think two more weeks will do for fans?

Oh my god! You have to wait a couple more weeks!

If you knew your history, you would know that the superbowl used to typically occur in the first three weeks of January ... now it is about two weeks later - generally the first weekend in Feb. Seems like that move served to make the event even bigger.

Clearly 2 more weeks of hype is going to help to make the TV rights for the draft a hotter commodity for the league

 

[dart]

and a lot more mocks - LOL

 

[jblaze2004]

yes lets give the rookie's 2 less weeks to get acclimated with there new team :

 

[Fmart322]

Why do they have to mess with something that's not broken?

 

[Zordon]

Goodell is an idiot part 123189412347

 

[AbeBeta]

Why do they have to mess with something that's not broken?

Not broken may be seen as "not making as much money off this as we could."

 

[AbeBeta]

Goodell is an idiot part 123189412347

Gee - is this the same Goodell who completely changed the draft by moving it to its new three day format? A format that must certainly generate far more revenue for the league as its predecessors as the first round is now in primetime rather than Saturday morning.

Sometimes people get ideas in their heads like "Goodell is an idiot" and they let those little shortcuts keep them from actually thinking about things

 

[nathanlt]

Thoughts?

Well, for me it means that my anniversary won't infringe upon the draft, especially since that will be our 10 year anniversary in 2014. Thanks, NFL.

(Sorry to the rookies, but all the vets have 2 weeks more rest)

 

[AbeBeta]

Well, for me it means that my anniversary won't infringe upon the draft, especially since that will be our 10 year anniversary in 2014. Thanks, NFL.

(Sorry to the rookies, but all the vets have 2 weeks more rest)

likely good for the rookies -- this means the rookie camps are going, in most cases, to occur after school is out. A small thing but this means the kids have one fewer giant distraction during the school year. attending a rookie minicamp the week before finals (in many cases) likely is tough on the student-athlete's grades

 

[Plankton]

Oh my god! You have to wait a couple more weeks!

If you knew your history, you would know that the superbowl used to typically occur in the first three weeks of January ... now it is about two weeks later - generally the first weekend in Feb. Seems like that move served to make the event even bigger.

Clearly 2 more weeks of hype is going to help to make the TV rights for the draft a hotter commodity for the league

Historically, the draft was held in May in both 1977 and 1979 before it moved to April beginning in 1980.