Over the course of the last few weeks there has been growing speculation that the date of the 2014 NFL Draft would be pushed back from late April to early May due to a scheduling conflict with the New York City Rockettes. On Tuesday, the NFL made the move official and below is a copy of the press release that the league released that announces the move.
So what does this change ultimately mean? It means that we basically get two more weeks of mock draft time.
It has been rumored that the league would eventually like to permanently move the draft to the middle of May and also push back the key dates on the offseason calendar in addition, but as of right now it is merely speculation.
NFL teams were notified today that, due to a scheduling conflict at Radio City Music Hall, the 2014 NFL Draft will be held on May 8-10 in New York at Radio City.
The decision was made after discussions with club personnel and key NFL business partners. No decision has been made regarding the dates of the NFL Draft in 2015 and beyond. A variety of alternatives are being explored, teams were told, including holding the draft at Radio City or at other locations, either in the New York area or in other cities.
The NFL clubs also were informed that there would be no significant changes in the dates of other off-season events next year:
- Several Regional Combines will be held on various dates from January 24 through February 16, 2014. Some Regional Combines may be held after the National Combine in Indianapolis.
- The National Combine in Indianapolis will be held from February 18-25, 2014.
- The new League Year, and the Free Agency period, will begin on March 11, 2014.
- The Annual Meeting will be held in Orlando, Florida, on March 23-26, 2014.
The change in the date of the 2014 Draft will have no effect on when rookies may begin to report to their clubs, the dates of off-season programs, or the length of off-season programs. Clubs will have available to them the same number of practice days that they currently have and no changes in the off-season calendar are being considered that would reduce the number of practice days or the overall length of the off-season program. At this time, changes are not anticipated in the off-season calendar for 2015 and beyond that would reduce the number of practice days or otherwise limit the off-season program.
