Here's how the picks will line up for the 2023 NFL Draft, which is scheduled for April 27-29.
The 2023 NFL Draft is set to be held in Kansas City, Missouri, from April 27-29, and with the Divisional Round just finished, the first round is almost completely laid out.
Twenty-seven of the 31 picks (Miami forfeited its first-round selection in 2023, third-rounder in 2024, and was handed other penalties for violations of the league's anti-tampering policy) are already set. The remaining will fall into place as the playoffs progress.
The Chicago Bears (3-14) have the No. 1 overall pick for the first time since 1947. But what's even more intriguing is that three of the remaining picks in the top 10 belong to a different team because of previous trades. Houston also has two picks in the top 12, and it's entirely possible that more top-10 picks will change hands between now and when the first round commences on April 27.
Here's how the order currently falls for the first round of the 2023 draft.
Note: 2022 regular-season record is listed in parentheses.
Current Draft Order (First Round)
1. Chicago Bears (3-14)
2. Houston Texans (3-13-1)
3. Arizona Cardinals (4-13)
4. Indianapolis Colts (4-12-1)
5. Seattle Seahawks (via 5-12 Denver Broncos)
6. Detroit Lions (via 5-12 Los Angeles Rams)
7. Las Vegas Raiders (6-11)
8. Atlanta Falcons (7-10)
9. Carolina Panthers (7-10)
10. Philadelphia Eagles (via 7-10 New Orleans Saints)
11. Tennessee Titans (7-10)
12. Houston Texans (via 7-10 Cleveland Browns)
13. New York Jets (7-10)
14. New England Patriots (8-9)
15. Green Bay Packers (8-9)
16. Washington Commanders (8-8-1)
17. Pittsburgh Steelers (9-8)
18. Detroit Lions (9-8)
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-9)
20. Seattle Seahawks (9-8)
21. Los Angeles Chargers (10-7)
22. Baltimore Ravens (10-7)
23. Minnesota Vikings (13-4)
24. Jacksonville Jaguars (9-8)
25. New York Giants (9-7-1)
26. Dallas Cowboys (12-5)
27. Buffalo Bills (13-3)
Note:Â Miami Dolphins (9-8) do not have a first-round pick due to tampering violations.
Remaining Playoff Teams (by record)
Cincinnati Bengals (12-4)
San Francisco 49ers (13-4, first-round pick belongs to Denver Broncos via Miami Dolphins)
Kansas City Chiefs (14-3)
Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
How is the draft order determined?
At its most basic level, the NFL makes its draft order by ranking teams from worst to best. That means ranking teams first and foremost by their regular-season record.
For the non-playoff teams, that's easy. The first 18 selections are ranked by the record, and the tiebreaker goes to the teams with the easiest strength of schedule. For example, the 7-10 Atlanta Falcons had a .467 strength of schedule while the Panthers (.472), Saints (.507), Titans (.510), Browns (.524), and Jets (.539) all had higher marks. That reflects more poorly on the Falcons that they ended up with the same record, so they earned the eighth picks followed by the other teams at No. 9-13.
Things get slightly more complicated for the 14 playoff teams. Unlike the NBA, where the regular season determines the draft order, the earlier a team is knocked out of the NFL playoffs, the earlier they will pick in the draft.
Picks No. 19-24 go to the four teams knocked out in the Wild Card Round, ranked by their regular-season record (tiebreaker is once again strength of schedule). Picks No. 25-28 go to the teams that lost in the Divisional Round. The 29th and 30th picks go to the teams that lost in the conference title games, while the final two picks belong to the Super Bowl teams.
