ESPN needs a recurring eight-minute alarm — and stat.
The NFL made a slight rule change for the 2026 draft that had a massive impact.
For the first time, the amount of time between picks in the first round was reduced from 10 minutes to eight minutes. Thursday’s draft broadcast on the Worldwide Leader was behind when it kicked off in Pittsburgh on Thursday night, and it was ticking some football fans off, including former player Mitchell Schwartz.
The offensive tackle of nine years took to X out of frustration over the lag in coverage.
“ESPN is so far behind on picks,” Schwartz, who last played for the Chiefs in 2020, wrote. “They’re going to have to figure this 8 min thing out because they can’t be 10+ min behind real time. The whole tipping picks thing is irrelevant when you feel like you can’t be on social media because the TV is that delayed.”
Other X users followed suit in lodging complaints on social media.
“ESPN royally f–king up this draft coverage the picks getting leaked like 5 minutes before we even see them on TV lol,” a user wrote.
“It’s like the TV producers slept thru the meeting where the NFL changed the time between picks to 8 minutes. these guys are WAY behind and the draft just started. absolutely embarrassing display,” another X user wrote.
“Twitter is currently 13 minutes ahead… wtf are we doing,” a fan posted.
Someone else chimed in: “With 2-3 min commercials between picks, and the announcements, and interviews… there’s zero room for analysis.
“They struggled keeping up before reducing the time. The picks may not need the time but TV needs it,” an X user noted.
The league approved the change in December, and it left several general managers worried about feeling rushed.
Leading up to the draft, Steelers GM Omar Khan was asked about the change. He didn’t sound thrilled.
“I’d love to have 10 minutes, but, hey, it’s the same for everybody else, so eight minutes, it is what is,” Khan said Monday.
He also added that he and several GMs were discussing trades, knowing they would have limited time under the new clock.
“They moved the first round from 10 minutes to eight minutes, so naturally we’ve been having more conversations to set parameters of what the value is if you move up to this spot or trade back,” Khan said. “There’s more conversation, but until we get there, I’m not sure how that’s going to go.”
Head coach poked fun at Khan’s comment about the clock during his own press conference, saying he should try calling plays on the sideline.
“I only get 40 seconds to call a play,” McCarthy said. “We’ll be fine.”
The time change marks the first since 2008, when the time between picks was reduced from 15 minutes to 10.
Still, Rounds 2-7 remain the same this year — teams have seven minutes to make picks in the second round, five minutes in rounds 3-6 and four minutes in Round 7.
