April 25, 2024

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It’s finally draft day, and Detroit, the excited host of this year’s traveling road show, is ready for its national spotlight. … Cities that can’t lure Super Bowls are making pushes for future drafts. … NFL draft expert Matt Miller chats with Front Office Sports Today about expectations for tonight’s drama. … One team in particular will have to pay up for its rookie class. … And it’s a full-circle moment for the Lions 15 years after they selected whom they thought was the savior of their franchise.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]] and David Rumsey [[link removed]]

NFL Draft Offers Detroit a Chance to Inspire Hope for City and Team [[link removed]]

Detroit Free Press

The Motor City is set for its latest moment in the sports spotlight, one that showcases a downtown in the midst of significant transformation and an NFL team quickly rising into one of the league’s elite franchises.

Detroit will host the NFL draft between Thursday and Saturday, an event that is estimated to bring more than 300,000 fans, and one marking one of the largest sporting events to ever hit the area.

The local area has previously hosted two Super Bowls, a Final Four, and multiple championship series across all the other major sports leagues. Those prior events, however, largely happened when long-downtrodden Detroit was still in the midst of economic decline, and certainly long before the rebirth of the Lions both on and off the field. This year’s NFL draft arrives as the Lions in 2023 enjoyed [[link removed]] their best season in more than three decades, reaching the NFC championship game, selling out their entire home schedule, and reigniting a long-dormant fan base into what is now one of the league’s most fervent bases of support.

As a result, the draft presents a unique opportunity to show off the city to a large national audience and put a further exclamation point on the Lions’ success of 2023.

“[We’re] very excited to see all those people downtown and [to] get the whole world to see Detroit maybe in a different way than what they perceive right now,” Lions president and chief executive Rod Wood said at the NFL’s annual meeting last month in Florida. “It’s going be a great three-day commercial for the city.”

Showing Off the Town

Since Ford Field hosted Super Bowl XL in 2006, downtown Detroit is a very different place. The Great Recession of ’08–09 levied a further blow to an already-challenged city and the automotive industry that drives much of the local economy. But since then, Little Caesars Arena has opened as the new home of the NHL’s Red Wings and NBA’s Pistons. The downtown area—once almost exclusively a locale for increasingly vacant office properties—has seen a 30% bump in the number of residential activity since ’19.

And through a series of upgrades to dozens of commercial properties, an aggressive pursuit of new business activity, and an additional focus on developing additional cultural and entertainment activities in this downtown core, key economic metrics such as local unemployment, per capita income, and median credit score have all reached some of their best levels in years.

Challenges, however, still remain, and the overall city revitalization effort is still very much a work in progress, as seen in part by a Detroit city population [[link removed]] of 620,376 that is down by 28% since that last Super Bowl at Ford Field.

The NFL’s draft plan, developed with the aid of the Lions and local officials, is specifically designed to incorporate a series of local landmarks, including Campus Martius Park (site of the draft itself), Hart Plaza (site of the fan experience), and along and near key downtown thoroughfare Woodward Avenue, where additional events will be staged.

“These kinds of events can definitely change the perception of people who have never been here,” Mark Hollis, chief operating officer for Rock Entertainment Group, tells Front Office Sports. Hollis, the former athletic director at Michigan State and now a senior leader at the company led by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, was part of the group that helped develop the initial bid for Detroit to host the draft. “We made a specific push to have this event right downtown for that very reason.”

Serious Metrics

Last year’s draft drew [[link removed]] an average audience of six million over the event’s three days, including an average of 11.4 million for the first round, and a total unduplicated audience of 54.4 million viewers. Given the NFL’s across-the-board TV audience growth [[link removed]] in the regular season and playoffs, there is little reason to believe there will be any meaningful decline in this year’s draft totals, or even any decline at all.

Attendance for the draft, meanwhile, is also likely to be boosted by not only the passion of local fans but also Detroit’s proximity to other NFL markets such as Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh.

It’s Not the Super Bowl, but Hosting the NFL Draft Is the Next Best Thing [[link removed]]

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

While Detroit is basking in the spotlight of hosting hundreds of thousands of fans over the next three days for the NFL draft, stakeholders in Green Bay are already gearing up [[link removed]] for next year’s event at Lambeau Field and the adjacent Packers Titletown District.

The 2025 draft will mark the 10th time the NFL has taken its traveling road show outside of its longtime former home in New York City.

2015–16: Chicago 2017: Philadelphia 2018: Dallas 2019: Nashville 2020: Virtual 2021: Cleveland 2022: Las Vegas 2023: Kansas City (above) 2024: Detroit 2025: Green Bay A Nice Consolation Prize

After experiencing early success going to huge media markets with longtime NFL fan bases, the draft this decade has turned into a mini version of a Super Bowl–like event for many cities that don’t have much hope of actually hosting the Big Game anytime soon—and all the media attention [[link removed]] and fanfare that comes with it. With Las Vegas as the outlier (hosting the draft and Super Bowl LVIII within a span of 22 months), Cleveland, Kansas City, Detroit (which most recently hosted Super Bowl XL in 2006, a few years after Ford Field opened), and Green Bay aren’t getting their hopes up about the Lombardi Trophy coming to town (unless they win it).

The same can be said for other cities known to be on the prowl for future drafts. Earlier this year, Pittsburgh submitted an official bid [[link removed]] to host either the 2026 or ’27 NFL draft. Last year, NFL officials visited Charlotte to hear the city’s pitch for hosting duties. Cincinnati and Denver have also been linked to potential future bids. Whether it’s colder-weather climates, stadiums that aren’t enclosed, or just a lack of hotels and restaurants, it’s safe to say neither of those four markets will be vying to host an upcoming Super Bowl.

Answers Coming Soon

Green Bay was awarded the 2025 draft at last year’s spring owners meeting. The league is scheduled to convene May 20–22 in Nashville, where an announcement on the host of the ’26 and even ’27 draft would not be a surprise.

Which city would you like to see host a future NFL draft? Let us know by replying to this newsletter. [[link removed]]

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FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY ESPN’s Matt Miller Expects Some First-Round Drama in the NFL Draft

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Of the 32 first-round picks, 20 could be offensive players. Look for the Cardinals, Chargers, and Commanders to be very active. Those are just two of the many nuggets NFL draft analyst Matt Miller dropped on us for today’s show. He spends 364 days every year waiting for today, and Miller is more than ready for the drama that’s about to unfold. Take a listen so you’re ready, too.

🎧 Listen and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Google [[link removed]], Spotify [[link removed]], and YouTube [[link removed]].

LOUD AND CLEAR Controlling Your Destiny

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

“You could make the argument that not getting drafted is better than going in later rounds.”

—Mike Tannenbaum, former Jets general manager and former Dolphins vice president of football operations, on why players still on the board after Day 2—the draft’s second and third rounds—might be better off as undrafted free agents instead of being picked on Day 3 (rounds 4–7). “Undrafted free agents are more targeted to fit with the team. It’s more need-based,” he told Yahoo! Sports [[link removed]].

The report’s analysis from the last 20 years backs up that assessment. And, in 2023, players who were picked in the first three rounds accounted for nearly two-thirds of all NFL lineups. There were 80 undrafted players in starting lineups during Week 1 last year—more than any players who were taken in any of the final four rounds. In fact, more than 11% of all starters in ’23—like Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito (above)—went undrafted.

ONE BIG FIG The Price of Doing Business

Arizona Republic

$18,412,359

The estimated total cost in salary cap dollars that the Cardinals will need to sign their rookie class if they keep all 11 of their picks in the NFL draft, according to Over The Cap [[link removed]]. The Packers and Rams also have a league-high 11 selections on tap, pending any trades, but their total costs are lower (both just over $12 million) than Arizona’s. On Thursday night, Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort (above) has two choices in the first round: Nos. 4 and 27.

TIME CAPSULE April 25, 2009: It All Worked Out

James Lang-USA TODAY Sports

On this day 15 years ago: The Lions selected Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford with the first pick of the NFL draft. After finishing 2008 with the first 0–16 season in league history, Detroit signed the promising young gunslinger to a six-year, $72 million contract with $48.8 million guaranteed. Stafford led the Lions to the postseason in his third year, but he never led Detroit to a playoff win.

In 2021, Stafford was traded to Los Angeles, where he helped lead the Rams to a title in Super Bowl LVI, but the deal ended up being crucial to revitalizing Detroit as a sports town. Key players like running back Jahmyr Gibbs and tight end Sam LaPorta were selected using draft picks from the Rams, and of course quarterback Jared Goff, selected No. 1 by Los Angeles in ’16, was the centerpiece of the Lions’ run to this past season’s NFC championship game that resulted in record viewership [[link removed]] in January.

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Drafting the Dream Together

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College football stars everywhere are preparing for what could be the most pivotal moment in their life—a chance to live out their dreams and play in the NFL.

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Conversation Starters Chicago was the first city other than New York to host the NFL draft in its new era back in 2015 and ’16. If the city ever hosts another one, there might be a sparkling new $2 billion lakefront stadium to show off. Check it out [[link removed]]. Eighteen years ago, the Saints selected Reggie Bush with the No. 2 pick in the 2006 draft, just months after the star running back won the Heisman Trophy at USC. The award was eventually stripped from Bush due to NCAA violations, but yesterday, he finally got that trophy back. Take a look [[link removed]] at the reunion. The first three or even four picks (depending on whom you ask) in tonight’s draft could be used on quarterbacks. Last year, top signal-callers Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud went Nos. 1 and 2—a fun moment for the two athletes who have known each other [[link removed]] since they were kids. Editors’ Picks Saudi Arabia’s Latest Sports Ambassador Is Deshaun Watson [[link removed]]by Dennis Young [[link removed]]The quarterback was in Saudi Arabia to promote American football and meet with royalty. NFL’s Expanded Helmet Options Come With a Perk: More Merch [[link removed]]by Eric Fisher [[link removed]]Teams can now add a third helmet design to their overall look. Deion Sanders: NFL Teams Manipulate Draft Positions [[link removed]]by Owen Poindexter [[link removed]]Coach Prime joined ‘Front Office Sports Today’ to discuss the state of college football. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Sports Careers [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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