The NFL Draft is finally right around the corner. In just a matter of hours, the NFL landscape as we know it will change ever so slightly.
The festivities in Green Bay are set to begin at 8:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 24, but as NFL fans know all too well, the Tennessee TItans won't be making their selection right at 8:00. It will be around 8:20 p.m. ET that commissioner Roger Goodell announces who Tennessee will select.
Barring a major shock, that player will be Cam Ward out of Miami. The Titans need a quarterback, and Ward has long been considered the best player at that position in this class. More often than not, the best player at the most valuable position, which in this case would be Ward, goes No. 1 overall.
Virtually every mock draft we see from trusted NFL insiders has the Titans selecting Ward No. 1 overall. Every report suggests that Ward to the Titans is a near lock. Titans GM Brian Callahan even said the team is going to pick at No. 1 overall. Again, barring a major shock, Ward will be a Titan. He even went out of his way to prop up every Titans skill position player that he could.
Given that, the question of why it'll take so long for Ward to get officially selected is one many NFL fans will evidently ask. The answers might not be what NFL fans want to hear.
Why it takes so long to announce the first pick of the NFL Draft
First, Goodell gives an opening statement to kick things off before officially announcing that the team selecting first overall is on the clock. While the draft is supposed to start at 8:00, the clock does not start at that exact time.
Second, and perhaps more importantly, money talks. Money is always the driving factor behind virtually every major decision, and this one is no exception. A big reason the first pick takes so long to get made, even when the team knows the player it will select, has to do with ratings. NFL commentators on ESPN will discuss who should be taken No. 1 overall as if we don't already know who the player will be, and that takes time.
The Titans have likely known who they want to pick for months. The same can be said about the Chicago Bears and Caleb Williams last year, and yet, they waited until there were more than six minutes had elapsed on their timer to make the obvious selection.
Sometimes, teams hold onto their picks for most of the 10 minutes to give other general managers the chance to offer trades. Most often, though, the first pick takes as long as it does because Goodell talks before the clock actually begins to tick away, and to give ESPN some more airtime when the entire country is watching.