The NFL draft came into effect due to Bert Bell, former NFL Commissioner who believed the draft ensures the financial viability of all franchises and will also level the playing field for all franchises. It increased the competitive parity between the teams. While early years saw players getting selected based on hearsay, print media, or other rudimentary evidence of ability, the 1940s saw some teams begin employing full-time scouts.
In the draft's formative years, it was held in various cities, but from 1965 till 2015 it was solely held in New York City. However, since 2015, draft locations are determined through a bidding process.
How many players are drafted in the NFL?
The NFL Draft consists of seven rounds. There are a total of 32 teams in the league. In each round of the draft, every team is given a selection. So a total of at least 224 players are drafted in the NFL every single year. Apart from these 224 selections, the NFL also awards more draft picks known as the compensatory picks, which puts the total number of draft picks around 250-260 (via Pro Football Network).
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Here is a table of the number of picks that were drafted in the past 5 years as per Pro Football Network:
| Year of the draft | Number of picks |
| 2024 | 257 |
| 2023 | 259 |
| 2022 | 262 |
| 2021 | 259 |
| 2020 | 255 |
| 2019 | 254 |
Read more about How does the NFL Draft work.
What are compensatory picks?
Compensatory picks are provided by the NFL to the teams to ensure balance among the teams. These picks are awarded to teams who lose players during free agency. When players go out in free agency there is a natural imbalance that occurs on the rooster. To fill that hole, the league helps the teams with compensatory picks. According to Pro Football Network, the loss of front-office personnel is also compensated with compensatory picks.
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How do compensatory picks work?
The NFL will award a total of 32 compensatory picks. Every NFL team is eligible to attain a maximum of 4 compensatory picks. These picks are awarded only from round 3 through to round 7. There are a few factors that the league considers for calculating the compensatory picks. They include the postseason honors, the playing time of the player as well as the salary of the player (via Pro Football Network).
There are two ways in which the NFL teams are awarded compensatory picks. One of the ways is when players move to other teams during free agency, compensatory picks are awarded to ensure balance.
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FAQs on NFL Draft
A. Caleb Williams was selected No.1 overall in the 2009 NFL draft.
A. The Tennessee Titans have the 1st overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.
A. As of February 14, 2025, all 32 teams possess first round picks in the 2025 NFL draft.
