DALLAS — The 2024 NFL Draft is set to start at 7 p.m. Central Time on WFAA, with the Chicago Bears starting on the clock.
In the first round, each team is allotted 10 minutes to make their selection. Some picks take up that entire time ... some don't. In 2023, the final pick of the first round, Kansas City's Felix Anudike-Uzomah was picked at 10:52 p.m. Dallas has the No. 24 overall pick, so Cowboys fans may be wondering, what time will they be on the clock?
This isn't an exact science, but here's our best estimate, with each of these times in Central Time.
What time will the Cowboys make their first round pick?
Let's preface this by saying this prediction is assuming Dallas doesn't trade up and make their pick at No. 24. Trying to predict when and where Dallas could trade up (or out of the first round) defeats the purpose of the exercise, so we'll assume they stay put at pick someone at No. 24.
If every team used up all 10 minutes allotted to them, the draft would take 310 minutes or five hours and 10 minutes. As we've noted before, every team does not take up the entire time. There is more time allowed for these first round picks than in the later rounds. Second round selections have seven minutes each, rounds three through six get five minutes per pick and teams get four minutes for players picked in the seventh round.
As we noted before, Kansas City made the last pick of the first round in the 2023 NFL Draft at 10:52 p.m. Only 31 teams picked that year due to the Dolphins being disciplined for violating the league's anti-tampering policy with Tom Brady in 2019. For argument's sake, we'll say another pick added to the first round would have had the first round end by 11 p.m. That puts each pick at an average of seven minutes and thirty seconds per team.
If all 23 teams before the Cowboys stuck to this average, about two hours, 52 minutes and 30 seconds would go by. By this estimation, Dallas would go on the clock at approximately 9:52 p.m. For reference, the New York Giants had the No. 24 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft and selected Deonte Banks at 9:58 p.m.
For Cowboys fans' sake, we'd recommend tuning in by at least 9:45 p.m. to ensure you don't miss the pick.
Even though we aren't expecting it, if the Cowboys trade up, this entire plan goes out the window. In that case, might as well tune in to WFAA from the very start (wink).
Dallas hasn't traded up in the first round since 2012, when it sent first- and second-round picks (No. 14 and No. 45 overall) to the St. Louis Rams in exchange for the sixth overall pick, which was used to draft cornerback Morris Claiborne.
How many picks do the Dallas Cowboys have?
The Dallas Cowboys own seven picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, with no fourth round pick and an extra seventh rounder from the Las Vegas Raiders. Here's a full list.
More 2024 NFL Draft info:
To keep track of the picks in the NFL Draft, click here.
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