What Time is the 2024 NFL Draft tonight?

There's a major difference between the official start time of the 2024 NFL Draft and the moment that most Kansas City Chiefs fans will show interest in the opening round. That's because Chiefs aren't slated to pick until No. 32 overall—at the very end of the first round.

Given that each pick has up to 10 minutes before the deadline passes and a name must be submitted, the Chiefs could conceivably make their first selection over five hours after the Chicago Bears get things moving with the first overall selection.

For draftniks who will be taking in the whole evening of first-round picks, the 2024 NFL Draft gets underway at 8:00 a.m. E.T. (7:00 p.m. C.T.) As for when the Chiefs will pick, you can guess it will be closer to midnight than most working adults would like.

What makes things interesting during the time spent waiting for your favorite team to pick is the mystery or drama of not knowing if/when they will make a move up or down the draft order. Just two years ago, Brett Veach, the Chiefs' general manager, moved up 8 spots from No. 29 to No. 21 in a deal with the New England Patriots in order to land star cornerback Trent McDuffie.

Then again, the flip side of that coin is that teams can trade down—which in the Chiefs' case would mean out of the first round entirely. It makes good sense on paper to pick up more draft selections in a deep draft, but in terms of the short-term desires of fans to see their team select someone, it's disheartening when it happens.

The first round is featured on Thursday evening with two more rounds set to take place on Friday evening followed by the final four rounds of the draft on Saturday afternoon.