Each NFL franchise seeks to add new players through the annual NFL Draft. The draft rules were last updated in 2009. The team with the worst record the previous year picks first, the next-worst team second, and so on. Teams that did not make the playoffs are ordered by their regular-season record with any remaining ties broken by strength of schedule. Playoff participants are sequenced after non-playoff teams, based on their round of elimination (wild card, division, conference, and Super Bowl).[1]
Before the merger agreements in 1966, the American Football League (AFL) operated in direct competition with the NFL and held a separate draft. This led to a massive bidding war over top prospects between the two leagues. As part of the merger agreement on June 8, 1966, the two leagues would hold a multiple round "Common Draft". Once the AFL officially merged with the NFL in 1970, the "Common Draft" simply became the NFL Draft.[2][3][4]
Larry Brewer was the 194th overall pick by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1970 NFL Draft.Matt Stover was the 329th overall pick by the New York Giants in the 1990 NFL Draft.Willie Roaf was the 8th overall pick by the New Orleans Saints in the 1993 NFL Draft.Luke McCown was the 106th overall pick by the Cleveland Browns in the 2004 NFL Draft.Ryan Moats was the 77th overall pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2005 NFL Draft.
^Because of the NFL–AFL merger agreement, the history of the AFL is officially recognized by the NFL and therefore this list includes the AFL Draft (1960–1966) and the Common Draft (1967–1969).
^From 1960 through 1966, teams with a superscript AFL denotes player drafted in the AFL Draft and teams with a superscript NFL denotes a player drafted in the NFL Draft.
^This is the team that drafted the player, not their most recent team.
^Cross, B. Duane (January 22, 2001). "The AFL: A Football Legacy". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on December 17, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
