Roger Goodell says proceeding with NFL draft best option

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said every team owner favored keeping the draft on schedule rather than delay it in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The draft, which was originally scheduled to be in Las Vegas, will be conducted remotely Thursday through Saturday. The Raiders own the 12th and 19th picks in the first round.

“Frankly, there weren’t really many alternatives,” Goodell told the NFL Network’s Rich Eisen on Friday. “If we were delaying this, when were we delaying it till? What are the solutions? We needed to move forward, and we needed to do it differently. I think that’s the key thing. We are doing this draft differently. That leads to some anxiety, and I understand that, but I think our clubs are adapting really well.”

Part of the unease has to do with the security of the technology as teams send in their selections to the NFL office and not have the process interrupted by hackers.

The NFL will do at least one trial run this week to try to work out any bugs before going live.

“I think people are comfortable with the technology, which is important,” Goodell said. “We have a lot of great partners helping us with that. I think we’re doing all we need to do to make sure do this with a great deal of sensitivity, but also operationally to make sure it comes off well with the clubs.”

Goodell also said he hopes the draft will be “in Las Vegas shortly.” The earliest is in 2022 because the draft is scheduled to be in Cleveland next year.

This year’s draft will raise money for six national nonprofits to help in the fight against COVID-19, and Goodell said “100 percent of the funds” would go to those organizations. The league, teams, owners and players have donated more than $47 million. Those wishing to donate can visit nfl.com/relief, where more than $250,000 has been raised.

Looking past the draft, Goodell said the schedule will be released by May 9, and at this point the plan is to play the season in full and on time.

Goodell acknowledged conditions could change, and the league is putting together contingency plans.

“We consider public safety in everything we do,” he said. “We’re obviously going to have that in our forefront as we’re making all our plans. None of us know what the conditions will be a week from now much less three months from now or six months from now. So we’ll be prepared for all alternatives.”

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.