The NFL announced on Monday that next month's draft will still take place from April 23-25, as planned. It will just be televised, however, and all public events in Las Vegas, Nevada, surrounding the draft have been canceled amid concerns over the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
The NFL plans to hold and televise the draft April 23-25 as scheduled, but public draft events in Las Vegas have been canceled, in consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 16, 2020
"This decision reflects our foremost priority — the health and safety of all fans and citizens," said Commissioner Roger Goodell via a statement issued by the NFL. "While this outcome is disappointing both to the NFL and to the Las Vegas community, we look forward to partnering with the Raiders, the City of Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority for a future NFL Draft as well as evaluating opportunities for other major NFL events in Las Vegas in the future, including the Super Bowl."
There was a report over the weekend that the league planned to postpone the draft until late May. That does not appear to be the plan, for now.
The NFL will move on with this week's schedule, as planned. Teams have until 9 a.m. PT to use the franchise tag. After that, the negotiating window for impending free agents begins with teams able to sign those players starting on Wednesday at 1 p.m. PT.
Other sports leagues, such as the NBA, MLB, NCAA, XFL, and MLS, have shut down operations. Of course, those leagues were in-season while the NFL is not.
The San Francisco 49ers announced last week that their team facilities and home stadium, Levi's Stadium, would close. The team, including coaches and executives, are working remotely.
