NFL Draft 2025: Here's what to expect from the Football spectacle
What is the NFL Draft?
The annual NFL Draft gives teams the opportunity to secure the most promising talent from college football. Across seven rounds, each with 32 picks, the best college players are selected by NFL teams to join their rosters. The order of selection follows a clear principle: the team with the worst record from the previous regular season receives the first pick and thus the opportunity to select the potentially best player of the year.
The Super Bowl champion, as the most successful team, receives the final pick of each round. Consequently, this year, the Tennessee Titans, who had the worst record last season (3 wins and 14 losses), will pick first, while the Philadelphia Eagles, as Super Bowl winners, will pick last.
When does the NFL Draft take place?
The draft spans three days – from Thursday, April 24, to Saturday, April 26. The event kicks off with the highly anticipated first round on Thursday, traditionally the one attracting the most media attention, starting at 2:00 AM (German time) in the night from Thursday to Friday. The second day includes rounds 2 and 3, starting at 1:00 AM (German time) in the night from Friday to Saturday. On the third and final day, rounds 4 through 7 will take place on Saturday starting at 6:00 PM (German time).
How does the NFL Draft work?
Each team has a fixed amount of time to make its draft pick. In the first round, the time limit is 10 minutes, and it shortens in the following rounds:
Round 2: 7 minutes
Rounds 3–6: 5 minutes
Round 7: 4 minutes
Additionally, a team can trade one or more draft picks in a particular round to another team in exchange for a higher pick in a different round or to collect extra picks. This can occur either before or during the draft. As a result, teams often have more or fewer than seven picks due to trades or because of so-called "compensatory picks." These extra picks are awarded to teams that lost key players during free agency. The NFL distributes these picks to maintain competitive balance.
Are any German players participating in the NFL Draft 2025?
Through the NFL International Player Pathway Program 2025, two German football players – offensive lineman Leander Wiegand and punter Bastian Roppelt – have the opportunity to enter the NFL through the draft. German kicker Lenny Krieg already signed a contract with the Atlanta Falcons at the end of March and is no longer eligible to be selected by any other team in the draft. Both Wiegand and Roppelt can be drafted by an NFL team and have the chance to earn a roster spot.
Who is broadcasting the NFL Draft 2025?
The first round of the draft will be broadcast live on free TV by NITRO and streamed on RTL+ in the night from Thursday (April 24) to Friday (April 25), starting at 1:00 AM. Once again, the first day will be presented commercial-free on free TV. Host Florian Ambrosius will welcome 32 fan representatives of the NFL teams to an interactive community event, joined by NFL experts Patrick Esume, Björn Werner, Kasim Edebali, and Jan Weinreich. Former NFL player Markus Kuhn and two-time Super Bowl champion Sebastian Vollmer will report live from Green Bay.
The second day, including rounds 2 and 3, will be available for free on RTL+ starting at 12:45 AM in the night from Friday to Saturday. On the third and final day, football fans can watch all remaining decisions from Saturday at 6:00 PM for free via streaming on RTL+. Additionally, all rounds of the draft will also be broadcast on DAZN and via the NFL Gamepass.
NFL Draft Order 2025 at a Glance
1. Tennessee Titans
2. Cleveland Browns
3. New York Giants
4. New England Patriots
5. Jacksonville Jaguars
6. Las Vegas Raiders
7. New York Jets
8. Carolina Panthers
9. New Orleans Saints
10. Chicago Bears
11. San Francisco 49ers
12. Dallas Cowboys
13. Miami Dolphins
14. Indianapolis Colts
15. Atlanta Falcons
16. Arizona Cardinals
17. Cincinnati Bengals
18. Seattle Seahawks
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
20. Denver Broncos
21. Pittsburgh Steelers
22. Los Angeles Chargers
23. Green Bay Packers
24. Minnesota Vikings
25. Houston Texans
26. Los Angeles Rams
27. Baltimore Ravens
28. Detroit Lions
29. Washington Commanders
30. Buffalo Bills
31. Kansas City Chiefs
32. Philadelphia Eagles
