NFL draft 2025: Start time, draft order, how to watch and stream

The 2025 NFL draft begins Thursday at 8 p.m, but it might be a long night for Eagles fans.

The Eagles enter the evening with the last pick in the first round, No. 32, thanks to their Super Bowl victory. That would mean the Birds won’t be on the clock until after 11 p.m. Philly time, assuming they don’t trade up or down, something Eagles general manager Howie Roseman is known for (the Eagles made a record-tying eight trades during last year’s draft).

Both The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Devin Jackson think the Eagles could trade up to draft Old Miss defender Walter Nolen. A disruptive pass rusher and run defender in college, Nolen was also the top pick on the Inquirer’s Draft Meter, which has successfully predicted the Eagles’ top pick the past four seasons.

“I think there’s a good chance he’s not within range — say, around No. 26 or 27 — but I know the Eagles have done a lot of work on him and love him,“ McLane wrote.

Of course, Roseman could go in the opposite direction and trade out of the first round entirely, especially if Nolen is off the board. That’s the scenario the Inquirer’s E.J. Smith laid out in his all-Eagles mock draft, predicting the Birds would select Ohio State offensive lineman Donovan Jackson in the second round.

At the top of the draft, the Tennessee Titans said they’re keeping the No. 1 pick after fielding potential trade offers. Presumably, they’ll take Miami quarterback Cam Ward, whom they’ve been eyeing since the scouting combine.

The Cleveland Browns are widely expected to nab Colorado star Travis Hunter — who played both cornerback and wide receiver — with the No. 2 pick. That leaves the New York Giants with the No. 3 pick deciding whether to take Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sander, nab the best non-quarterback available, or trade out of the top three entirely.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch and stream this year’s NFL draft:

The 2025 NFL draft is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Eastern and run through 11:30 p.m. In addition to airing on ABC, ESPN, and the NFL Network, the draft will also stream on the ABC app, the ESPN app, the NFL app, NFL+ (the league’s subscription service) and on NFL.com (cable authentication is required).

Here’s how television networks are planning to cover the draft.

For the seventh straight year, ABC will air its own coverage Thursday and Friday, focused more on the personal stories of the prospects than their impact on the field. Rece Davis will host ABC’s main coverage alongside analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, and Nick Saban.

This will be ESPN’s 46th year broadcasting the NFL draft. Anchoring the network’s coverage for the fifth straight year will be Get Up! host Mike Greenberg. On Thursday and Friday he’ll be joined by analysts Louis Riddick, Booger McFarland, and Mel Kiper Jr., who is working his 42nd NFL draft and still does not own a cell phone.

Once again, the NBA playoffs will bump Friday night’s coverage of the draft off ESPN and onto ESPN2.

For the 19th year, NFL Network will have its own coverage, hosted by Rich Eisen. He’ll be joined by NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah, CBS analyst Charles Davis, Hall of Famer Kurt Warner, and Fox Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt.

The future of the NFL Network’s coverage of the draft is uncertain as the league negotiates a potential sale of its media assets — including NFL RedZone and eight NFL game broadcasts — to ESPN. Talks reopened in February, as initially reported by Puck’s John Ourand, but there haven’t been any public updates.

Despite some drama, Pat McAfee will be in Green Bay hosting a special NFL draft version of his show beginning at 8 p.m. Thursday that will stream on ESPN+ and free on YouTube. The show has hinted someone with “a very massive tie in Green Bay” will join the special, possibly four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers? At this point, the only official guest announced is former Packers and Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy.

For the seventh straight season, ESPN Deportes will cover every round in Spanish. The network’s broadcast will feature Monday Night Football announcers Eduardo Varela and Pablo Viruega, among others.

After holding the draft in New York City for nearly 50 years, the NFL took the show on the road to Chicago in 2015. Since then, the league has zig-zagged across the country, holding the event in a variety of cities, including Philadelphia in 2017.

This year’s draft will take place in Green Bay, Wis., outside Lambeau Field — the iconic home of the Packers and the NFL’s smallest market.

Next year, the draft is coming back to Pennsylvania, but not Philadelphia. Instead, the 2026 draft will be 300 miles away in Pittsburgh around Point State Park and Acrisure Stadium, home of the Steelers.

Two teams enter Thursday with 11 picks each — the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers.

The Minnesota Vikings have the fewest, entering the draft with just four picks. And one — No. 97 overall in the third round — is a compensatory pick rewarded after Kirk Cousins signed a pricey free-agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons.

The Eagles have eight picks entering the draft, though that’s likely to change with Roseman at the helm.

Since 2010, Roseman has averaged more than three trades per draft, according to NFL data. He’s traded up 19 times during his tenure as general manager (excluding 2015, when ex-coach Chip Kelly was in charge), and traded down 27 times during that span.

The Birds are picking at the bottom of the first four rounds, thanks to their Super Bowl victory. They also have four fifth-round picks, three of which they landed in trades with the Houston Texans (C.J. Gardner-Johnson deal), Cleveland Browns (Kenny Pickett deal), and Washington Commanders (Jahan Dotson deal in 2024).

Here’s the full breakdown:

The Tennessee Titans hold the No. 1 pick in the draft for the first time since 1978, when they used it to select Hall of Fame running back Earl Campbell.

The last time the Eagles had the No. 32 pick was in 2018, which they traded to the Baltimore Ravens, who ended up taking two-time MVP Lamar Jackson.

The Eagles made out okay. After a few deals, the Birds ended the night with three players out of that one pick — Miles Sanders, Dallas Goedert, and Avonte Maddox.

Here is the complete order of the first round: