2013 Draft Date

[Goodell]

From NFL.com: The 2013 NFL Draft returns to primetime, with the first round taking place Thurs., April 25 at 8 p.m. ET, followed by the second and third rounds on Fri., April 26 at 6:30 p.m. ET. Rounds 4-7 will be held Sat., April 27 at 12 p.m. ET.

Because I need to load all the real NFL pick selections into our system since if you miss a pick you automatically get the next highest undrafted player by order of NFL selection, we start our draft sometime after the conclusion of the real NFL draft. With the draft ending on a Saturday, the next day Sunday would probably be the earliest we could go with everything loaded. I've also added some choices for the following starts of the weeks and weekends after that. Some have mentioned church or other Sunday activities, so if we start Sunday we'd probably turn the draft on the night before (if those top choices want to pick early) and have the first due time on Sunday be in the afternoon with the rest of the later round due times into the evening.

For those who haven't been to one of our drafts before, it works like this:

- There will be a set pick window for when your pick is due (say Monday at 10AM). Teams can load up their draft preference list (queue) ahread of time (I'll start working on that soon) so that if they aren't there for their pick the system selects their top available ranked preference. You can also set it to pick the highest available offensive lineman or linebacker, etc. If you don't have any in your queue and aren't there to pick, the system selects the highest unselected player from NFL draft order.

- The picks are due within 20 minute windows in rounds 1-2 and 15 minute windows in rounds 3-7. For example, if one pick due at 10:00 in round 3, then the next one will have a posted due date of 10:15. As soon as you're officially on the clock, you can make your choice manually, but if you don't pick by the due time the system picks for you based upon your queue or highest undrafted NFL choice left.

- Day 1 is round one. Day 2 are rounds 2-3. Day 3 - rounds 4-5. Day 4 - rounds 6-7.

- At the end of the day, if you're next up on the clock but due date isn't until the next morning, you can make your selection the night before (any time you are on the clock).

- Teams can trade their pick any time before it's officially due. You can trade while you're on the clock, but if the deadline is fast approaching be cautious as the team that acquires the pick could have the clock run out on them and have the system select. Don't Dumervil it and cut things too close to the deadline.

- If a league gets way ahead of schedule, you still won't miss your pick because the due date is fixed so long as you're here in that window. When things do get ahead of schedule, though, there can be long waits until the next pick is due.

- We select the same pool of college players that the NFL is drafting.

- Players will be signed to rookie contracts similar to averaged contracts for their slotted position. You can research last year's draft to see who was selected in a spot and view their contract to see what the contract may look like this year (subject to change as we adjust each year with new rookie contract details published but usually not a lot of adjustment). I'll also have an estimated price for rookie contracts listed soon, so if you don't have money you can look into exchanging your expensive pick for ones next year instead. All 2nd-7th rounders will be signed to rookie contracts automatically this summer (we aren't going to have 7th round holdouts or teams trying to get by without paying draft picks by trying to keep them without contract until deciding to cut later). At that time, teams can click to sign their own 1st rounders after that as training camp approaches assuming the first rounder fits within the team's salary cap. If you don't have cap space to sign your first rounder, he becomes a holdout until you have room and could re-enter the draft next year (with no compensation to you) if you don't sign him before season's end.

At least that's how that draft has usually been setup and usually doesn't change a lot, but open to other thoughts in this thread to improve things also as we get everything ready for the draft upcoming.

[Ben C.]

I voted for Monday the 29th because I'll be traveling on Sunday the 28th; however, I do have internet on my phone so it isn't a huge issue if we have to start on Sunday.

[Knighty Knight]

I voted for the 28th but the 29th is good as well. Gonna be travelling May 4-14 with likely no internet.

[JonC]

Any time before Mother's Day Weekend is great!

[gmen43]

I remember last year you could be on clock earlier than the time slot if other people picked their picks faster, but I just want to make sure the 15 minutes doesn't start until the official time of one's pick

[RebelFan]

That's exactly how it works Gmen. Your pick won't be auto drafted until your 15 minute window has expired. Each pick has its own specific time slot that doesn't change.

[sportznut]

I make this suggestion every year, and I'll do it again. While draft time slots won't change, I do think the commish should put a little check box on the draft page for those GMs who know for a fact they won't be able to make the draft live. They can set up their queue, and check the box to autodraft for them on that given day.

[RebelFan]

Solid idea Nut.

[tino38]

Yeah that is one I could support

[redsoxfan31x21]

yeah, what they said. awesome idea.