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The Las Vegas Raiders hold the first pick in the 2026 NFL draft and are expected to select quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who is fresh off of leading the Indiana Hoosiers to their first national title in program history. The draft really begins with New York Jets and the second pick, where most draft experts have the Jets deciding between a pair of edge rushers in Arvell Reese from Ohio State and David Bailey from Texas Tech.
The NFL draft kicks off tonight with the first round starting at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network. Rounds 2 and 3 are scheduled for Friday night, and the final four rounds will take place on Saturday afternoon.
Here’s everything you need to know to watch all the action without cable, including a number of ways to watch every pick for free.
Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is expected to be the first name called in the 2026 NFL Draft on Thursday night.
How can I watch the draft live?
Watch live for free: ABC will air all three days of the draft. You can watch for free if you have an over-the-air antenna hooked up to your TV and can get your local ABC station.
Subscription options: The NFL draft will be broadcast on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network and stream on ESPN Unlimited and NFL Plus.
If you don’t want to subscribe to ESPN Unlimited, NFL Plus or cable TV, then you can watch on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network with a live TV streaming service, some of which offer an introductory trial that will let you watch the draft for free. There’s more on the best ways to stream the NFL draft below.
There are also plenty of live YouTube shows you can watch during the draft, including The Pat McAfee Show Draft Spectacular and The Athletic Football Show. The McShay Show will also be live on Netflix during the draft.
When does the NFL draft start?
Here are the start times for each day of the draft.
Thursday, April 23
- Round 1: 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT)
Friday, April 24
- Rounds 2 and 3: 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT)
Saturday, April 25
- Rounds 4 to 7: 12 p.m. ET (9 a.m. PT)
On ESPN, Rich Eisen will host alongside Daniel Jeremiah, Charles Davis and Joel Klatt, with Ian Rapoport and Kurt Warner.
On ABC, Rece Davis will host with Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Nick Saban and Field Yates. For Day 3 of the draft on Saturday, ABC and ESPN will combine forces with Rece Davis, Matt Miller, Louis Riddick, Field Yates, Peter Schrager and others covering rounds 4 through 7.
On the NFL Network, Rich Eisen will lead coverage featuring Daniel Jeremiah, Charles Davis, Kurt Warner, Joel Klatt and Ian Rapoport.
What’s the order of the draft picks?
Trades have netted six teams — the Jets, Giants, Browns, Chiefs, Dolphins and Cowboys — two picks each in the first round. Here’s the first-round draft order:
1. Las Vegas Raiders
2. New York Jets
3. Arizona Cardinals
4. Tennessee Titans
5. New York Giants
6. Cleveland Browns
7. Washington Commanders
8. New Orleans Saints
9. Kansas City Chiefs
10. New York Giants (from Cincinnati Bengals)
11. Miami Dolphins
12. Dallas Cowboys
13. Los Angeles Rams (from Atlanta Falcons)
14. Baltimore Ravens
15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
16. New York Jets (from Indianapolis Colts)
17. Detroit Lions
18. Minnesota Vikings
19. Carolina Panthers
20. Dallas Cowboys (from Green Bay Packers)
21. Pittsburgh Steelers
22. Los Angeles Chargers
23. Philadelphia Eagles
24. Cleveland Browns (from Jacksonville Jaguars)
25. Chicago Bears
26. Buffalo Bills
27. San Francisco 49ers
28. Houston Texans
29. Kansas City Chiefs (from LA Rams)
30. Miami Dolphins (from Denver Broncos)
31. New England Patriots
32. Seattle Seahawks
You can track all of the picks with ESPN’s DraftCast.
Best ways to watch the NFL Draft
You can watch the NFL draft for free on ABC or one of the aforementioned YouTube live streams. You can also watch with a live TV streaming service or with ESPN’s own streaming service.
You can also watch all seven rounds with the NFL’s streaming service. NFL Plus costs $7 a month and will let you watch every pick on your TV, computer, phone or tablet.
The ESPN direct-to-consumer streaming service comes in two flavors. The ESPN Unlimited plan costs $30 a month (or $300 a year) and lets you stream all ESPN linear networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, ESPN Deportes, SEC Network and ACC Network. You also get access to programming on ESPN on ABC, ESPN Plus, ESPN3, SECN Plus and ACCNX. With ESPN Unlimited, you can watch every pick of the NFL draft.
(A $13 per month ESPN Select plan is also available, and it’s like a rebranding of ESPN Plus. It offers you access to thousands of live games — including small college conferences, whose games are not shown anywhere else — but not the NFL draft.)
ESPN Unlimited review.
Fubo’s sports plan costs $56 a month and includes ABC, ESPN and NFL Network. There’s also a five-day trial you can use to watch all three days of the draft for free. Click here to see which local channels you get.
Read our FuboTV review.
YouTube TV’s sports plan costs $65 a month and includes ABC, ESPN and NFL Network for the draft. There’s also a five-day trial you can use to watch the draft for free. Plug in your ZIP code on its welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area.
Read our YouTube TV review.
DirecTV’s $65-a-month MySports package includes ABC, ESPN and NFL Network. And there’s a free, five-day trial. You can use its channel lookup tool to see which local channels are available where you live.
Read our AT&T TV Now review.
All of the live TV streaming services above allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live-TV streaming services guide.
