Why the NFL Draft order changes after the first round

Patriots

NFL tiebreaker rules help create the draft order for the first round. In subsequent rounds, the order changes due to a lesser-known procedure.

The second round of the 2024 NFL Draft begins Friday at 7 p.m., when the Patriots — after selecting quarterback Drake Maye in Thursday’s first round — will once again have a top pick.

New England heads into the night equipped with the 34th overall pick. This will be the second pick of the second round. Given that the Patriots selected Maye third overall, fans may be wondering why exactly New England — using its natural draft pick — will have a slightly better spot in Friday’s draft. Shouldn’t each round of the draft reflect the order of the first round?

The answer begins with tiebreakers. Since the Cardinals, Commanders and Patriots each finished 4-13, the NFL used its tiebreaking procedures to determine the selection order. The league uses seven different methods to separate two or more teams with identical records.

After applying tiebreakers, the Patriots were placed in the middle of the three-team field.

In the second round, the Patriots moved to the top of the three-team field, with Washington moving up to the fourth pick in the round and the Cardinals coming in at third place.

According to NFL rules:

Once the selection order for the first round of the draft has been determined, clubs initially involved in ties between two clubs will alternate their positions from one round to the next. In the case of ties that originally involved three or more clubs, the club leading a tied segment in a given round will move to the bottom of the segment for the next round, while all others clubs in the segment will progress. a square. This rotation will continue throughout the draft.

The pattern, as the rule notes, continues beyond the second round. In the third round, the Patriots slide to the back of the three-team rotation (and will have the fourth pick in this round, rotating a pick forward in the fourth round).

In addition to turnover, many draft pick trades further skew the original draft order. The Patriots, for example, will pick 11th overall in the final round due to a prior trade with the Bears (after shipping out the team’s original seventh-round pick in a separate trade).