Why is the draft only 7 rounds?

[Reverend Conehead]

The NFL used to have a 12-round draft. Why did they change?

 

[cowboyec]

i miss those days.
it would start on monday at 6am.
i'd play hookie from school and watch it on espn.

 

[RonnieT24]

It's because of the number of teams. The NFL essentially has wanted to maintain the number of players drafted at around 250-ish. They used to draft over 400 players up until the mid 70's then dropped it to 300-ish in the 70's and 80's and then down to just over 200 in the early 90's and jumped it up to 254 when the Cleveland franchise came back online in 2000. My guess is that it's all CBA related .. the current players probably didn't like teams drafting 25 guys to come in and take their jobs but if you look at the history rarely do more than 250 draftees end up making teams so they might have just decided to quit wasting time with more than that. Of course every team signs a dozen UDFAs the day after the draft anyway so I'm not sure it really changed much. Just shortened the amount of time spent in draft rooms..

 

[jrumann59]

They still have rounds 8-12 its called the UDFA scrum

 

[remdak]

It's because of the number of teams. The NFL essentially has wanted to maintain the number of players drafted at around 250-ish. They used to draft over 400 players up until the mid 70's then dropped it to 300-ish in the 70's and 80's and then down to just over 200 in the early 90's and jumped it up to 254 when the Cleveland franchise came back online in 2000. My guess is that it's all CBA related .. the current players probably didn't like teams drafting 25 guys to come in and take their jobs but if you look at the history rarely do more than 250 draftees end up making teams so they might have just decided to quit wasting time with more than that. Of course every team signs a dozen UDFAs the day after the draft anyway so I'm not sure it really changed much. Just shortened the amount of time spent in draft rooms..

Yeah I agree with what you are saying. Also, its probably better for the players to have less rounds. Better off being an UDFA rather than a 7th round pick. You probably have more options as you can pick a team (if they want you) that might have a need for you.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

It's because of the number of teams. The NFL essentially has wanted to maintain the number of players drafted at around 250-ish. They used to draft over 400 players up until the mid 70's then dropped it to 300-ish in the 70's and 80's and then down to just over 200 in the early 90's and jumped it up to 254 when the Cleveland franchise came back online in 2000. My guess is that it's all CBA related .. the current players probably didn't like teams drafting 25 guys to come in and take their jobs but if you look at the history rarely do more than 250 draftees end up making teams so they might have just decided to quit wasting time with more than that. Of course every team signs a dozen UDFAs the day after the draft anyway so I'm not sure it really changed much. Just shortened the amount of time spent in draft rooms..

Okay, thanks for the explanation. That makes sense. I remember Staubach was drafted in something like the 12th round, way late, because he had a 4 or 5 year obligation with the Navy that he had to fulfill first.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

I assume it has more to do with the NFLPA. To some extent, it’s better to be considered a priority UDFA as opposed to a 7th round pick.

Neither player will have much of a commitment and you can pick a situation that’s better for you.

I also think those contracts are 3 years and *sometimes* the signing bonus is larger

 

[exciter]

The NFL used to have a 12-round draft. Why did they change?

Better question is why isn’t it 5. The majority of what’s available in the 6th and 7th is about on the same level as what you can get as an UDFA!

 

[Pape]

This is a neat read ... https://landryfootball.com/nfl-draft-history-free/ doesnt say why explicitly the current draft is 7 rounds, but some of the early stuff is cool...

as for why, I would imagine the draft was reduced to 7 rounds because it made the draft more attractive to tv... when the draft first hit the air it was 12 rounds... BSPN took it and ran with the idea... make it shorter, enforce a stricter time limit between picks, and viola a made for tv sports program... and the owners eyes are starting to notice new ways to market their product...

 

[Londonboy]

The NFL used to have a 12-round draft. Why did they change?

Yet it's now 2 days longer for 5 less rounds.

 

[csirl]

I believe it was reduced by one of the CBAs. There are actually the equivalent of 8 rounds as there are up to 32 comps per year.

 

[Verdict]

It’s because if parity. The same reason rosters are 53 players. More distribution of talent.

 

[timb2]

Players drafted in like the 11th round were upset because they were liked locked into contracts that were low and a UDFA could negotiate a better deal

 

[LACowboysFan1]

Considering the percentage of 6th and 7th rounders that even make the final roster, about 30% rather pointless to go beyond that....