Draft Blunders

With only eight minutes for a pick, teams better have their s***t together.

(2011 Browns goof...oof, only the Browns...)

NFL Draft’s biggest blunders ever, from late picks to drafting someone already taken

The first round of the 2026 NFL Draft is going to be quicker, and that is a very, very good thing. A ponderously slow first round is being sped up, with teams only having eight minutes to make their selections, down from 10 minutes in previous years. That might not seem like a mammoth difference, but it will end up saving an hour off the total broadcast — while also meaning if you’re on the east coast and your team is picking in the late-20s you no longer need to wait until almost midnight to see the pick.

Any format change comes with some risk. NFL front offices are occupied by creatures of habit, and there is a very good chance someone isn’t going to remember the timing reduction in the first round, which could lead to beautiful, hilarious chaos. Just like its happened in the past.

2003: Minnesota Vikings — The missed draft pick
Easily the greatest example of a team screwing up when they were on the clock — but the true story of what went down didn’t emerge for 20 years.

In the 2003 NFL Draft the Minnesota Vikings had the No. 7 overall pick and everyone was blowing up their phone. Minnesota was talking to the Patriots, Jaguars, and Ravens — all of whom wanted to move up to No. 7. The Vikings thought they had a dream scenario where they could move down a few spots in a trade, and still land DT Kevin Williams, the guy they always wanted. It quickly turned into a nightmare.

Ultimately the Baltimore Ravens had a trade in place with the Vikings to move up from No. 10 overall to No. 7, with the Ravens’ intention of taking QB Byron Leftwich. It was going to alleviate their biggest issue on offense, after going 7-9 with Jeff Blake and Chris Redman playing quarterback by committee the year prior. The Ravens agreed to the deal, then the procedure was for Minnesota to tell the NFL, Baltimore to confirm, then business was done.

One problem: The Vikings never contacted the NFL.

Minnesota claimed it told the league about the trade with 32 seconds left on the clock, but the NFL said it hadn’t heard from Baltimore. The clock read zero, and hell broke loose. When a team fails to make its pick on time the draft just keeps on going in order, with the original drafting team being able to submit their pick at any time.

The Jaguars rushed their pick in to the league with the Vikings’ time expiring — they ended up taking Leftwich without needing to trade up. Then the Panthers, who were waiting in the wings, saw that Minnesota still hadn’t handed in its pick, so they jumped ahead of the Vikings as well, landing OT Jordan Gross.

Terrified they were going to lose Williams, the Vikings finally got in their selection and took Kevin Williams at No. 9. A stunned ESPN broadcast showed Chris Berman with his head in his hands, analysts mocked the Minnesota front office mercilessly for the screwup. It wasn’t until 2023 that we finally got the full story of what happened on that night.

Former Vikings owner Red McCombs threw his front office under the bus in the wake of the draft, insinuating that they were disorganized and unprepared. In reality, he gave then-GM Rob Brzezinski an ultimatum prior to the draft to trade down in 2003, no matter what. McCombs was growing frustrated with waning revenue and wanted to spend as little as possible on the first-round pick. This put immense amounts of pressure on the front office to find a deal, even though there was only lukewarm interest in moving up.

This is why the Vikings took so long to try and get a trade done. The people in the draft room were content in taking Kevin Williams at No. 7, but with the mandate from ownership they had to try and make something happen. It all worked out in the end. The Vikings got their guy, and Williams went on to be a stud — but it did make the Minnesota brain trust look like incompetent idiots at the time.

The biggest “what if?” comes from everyone else involved in this chaos who wasn’t Minnesota. Had the Ravens moved up to No. 7 in the agreed trade with the Vikings, they would have missed out on Terrell Suggs, one of the greatest defensive players in team history, who they ended up taking at No. 10. Meanwhile, the Ravens wouldn’t have traded their 2004 1st round pick to the Patriots to take QB Kyle Boller at No. 19. That 2004 pick for New England ended up being Vince Wilfork, one of the most important defensive parts of the Patriots dynasty.

If the Jaguars didn’t get to jump in line for Leftwich, they wouldn’t have taken a quarterback in 2003, instead fixing their glaring hole at cornerback by taking Marcus Trufant. Then in 2004 they likely would have looked for a new QB, and sitting at No. 9 there was one guy who made sense: Ben Roethlisberger.

So while the screwup didn’t really hurt the Vikings when the dust settled, it completely altered the course of the NFL in the 2000s.

2011: Baltimore Ravens — The botched trade
Another case of a trade gone wrong, but this was entirely on the Chicago Bears. Drafting at No. 26, the Ravens loved the board in front of them in terms of their targets, and shopped the pick. The Bears were looking to move up from the No. 29 pick to get their guy — and the deal was agreed to.

The Ravens called in the trade to the league office, and all that needed to be done was for the Bears to do the same. However, this never happened. Bears GM Jerry Angelo apologized profusely to the Ravens following the first round, as Angelo told two staff members to call the trade into the league — with each of them assuming the other was doing it. As a result the NFL never heard from the Bears, and the Ravens time expired.

Kansas City jumped to select WR Jonathan Baldwin, and Baltimore picked right after, taking CB Jimmy Smith. Ravens’ owner Steve Biscotti was livid.

“I’m disappointed in the Bears and the McCaskeys. It is, in my opinion, a deviation from their great legacy. They concluded that their heartfelt and admirable apology was sufficient for our loss. All of us at the Ravens strongly disagree … probably end of story.”

Understandably, the Ravens were mad, but nobody really lost out in this whole mess. Jonathan Baldwin was a bust for the Chiefs, and the guy the Bears ended up taking, OT Gabe Carimi, was also a bust. The Ravens still managed to do the best of all three, with Smith being a 10-year starter for Baltimore.

2002: Minnesota Vikings — Selecting a player who was already taken
The one is barely a blip on a radar compared to the other two, but it was still a hilarious draft moment. In 2002 the Kansas City Chiefs agreed to a trade with the Dallas Cowboys to move up from No. 8 to No. 6, jumping the Vikings at No. 7.

Minnesota then thought the Chiefs’ time had expired, and they rushed to put their card in for DT Ryan Sims. It was at this time the NFL informed the Vikings that Kansas City had picked on time, and they selected Sims — meaning Minnesota tried to select a player who was already taken.

They had to go back to their draft board and resubmit their pick, which they did in time. They ended up taking OT Bryant McKinnie, who was a nine-year starter for them and a one-time Pro Bowler. The guy they missed out on, Ryan Sims, ended up being a decent, but unremarkable player.

Now, if we want to really dive into this one it led to some hilarious things happening. Had the Vikings been right and the Chiefs’ time expired, then they would have taken Sims. With defensive tackle filled, they wouldn’t have targeted Kevin Williams during the infamous 2003 screwup. Minnesota would have still needed an offensive tackle in 2003, so when the Panthers jumped them for Jordan Gross it really would have hurt the Vikings.

So somehow, despite screwing up in both 2002 and 2003, the Vikings still managed to end up with the best players for their positional needs.

2011: Cleveland Browns — Called the wrong player
Cameron Jordan is a pass rushing legend for the New Orleans Saints who will be in their ring of honor.

Jordan Cameron is a short-lived tight end for the Cleveland Browns who had one standout year.

The Browns got confused between the two of them. Cameron Jordan’s phone rang on draft weekend in 2011, one of dozens of calls he received to congratulate him on being drafted, arrange his travel to New Orleans, all the post-draft activity that takes place. Jordan picked up the phone, said hello, and on the other end of the line were the Cleveland Browns, welcoming him to the organization and telling Jordan they planned to select him in the 4th round.

It was extremely confusing for Cameron Jordan, who was a first-round pick. It turns out the Browns meant to call Jordan Cameron, USC tight end who was still available. Jordan told Cleveland he’d already been picked, but joked that if they wanted to send him another signing bonus, he’d take it.

2023 Las Vegas Raiders — Did they select the wrong Byron Young?
This is one of those draft stories that still falls into the realm of rumor, but with each passing year it seems more, and more likely. In the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft the Las Vegas Raiders selected Bryon Young with the No. 70 overall pick — that is, Alabama defensive tackle Byron Young.

What made this pick a little bizarre is that Alabama’s Byron Young graded into the late 4th-to-5th round range as a prospect on most big boards, while Tennessee EDGE rusher Byron Young was regarded as a late 2nd-to-early 3rd round pick, which is where the Raiders were drafting. EDGE Byron Young was taken by the Los Angeles Rams seven picks later.

It’s really tricky to know exactly what happened here. The Byron Young of the Rams said that his agent was contacted by the Raiders on draft day and told they were taking him, before the team called back and said to disregard. One local radio host in Las Vegas is convinced the Raiders meant to take EDGE Byron Young, but took DT Byron Young by mistake.

The way I look at it, I think there was a mistake, just not such an obvious one. If you look at the Raiders’ depth chart from 2023 it really didn’t make a lot of sense taking another EDGE at No. 70. They took Tyree Wilson in the first round to pair with Maxx Crosby, and still had Malcolm Koonce on the roster. I believe they absolutely intended to take Alabama DT Byron Young to bolster their front.

HOWEVER, I think they screwed up their board. I believe the Raiders were on the clock, looked at the BPA and saw EDGE Byron Young on there, thinking it was DT Byron Young. They called him, realized it was the wrong Young, and had to pivot. Their clock was ticking, so instead of thinking too much they overdrafted DT Bryon Young.

Essentially, I think they took the player they thought they were getting, just earlier than they would have. Of course, we’d all totally believe that the Raiders took the wrong guy altogether — because Raiders.

 

MT hoping to also draft sonny later at some point.

 

I'll wait for the audio book

 

I still like the story from 1979 about how both the Steelers and Rams refused to make a draft pick, so they could set their team up to pick last in the draft. The whole idea of Mr. Irrelevant had just started a few years earlier. Crazy the NFL would have to make a rule blocking teams from "Passing" on their pick.




AI Overview

In 1979, the Steelers and Rams famously "refused" to make the final draft pick (Mr. Irrelevant) to avoid the pick, engaging in a game of hot potato to let the other have the publicity. Commissioner Pete Rozelle forced them to pick; the Steelers won the pick, leading to the "Salata Rule," which prohibits passing to secure the final pick.
Key Details on the Incident:

• 1979 Draft Stand-off: Both teams wanted to avoid the last pick, resulting in a stalemate.
• The "Salata Rule": The league instituted a rule forbidding teams from passing on their turn to intentionally receive the final pick, due to the 1979 incident.
• First Mr. Irrelevant: Despite the 1979 antics, the Pittsburgh Steelers actually drafted the very first "Mr. Irrelevant" in 1976, selecting WR Kelvin Kirk (487th overall)

 

Pittsburgh has had their draft whiffs for sure. Given though the teams rich history on prioritizing the importance of building through the NFL Draft, I suspect the same can be said of how they practice the rules as well. The 8 minute rule is of necessity considering how comically and ridiculously long some of these picks are.


That said, the NFL has itself to blame for all of this. Best example is 2020 when literally every fan, be they casual or dedicated, knew the Bengals were going to take Joe Burrow. The Bengals wasted the full alloted time to do so. That wasn't just due to the Bengals though as the NFL was reported to see to it that the Bengals would wait to, and I quote, "build suspense."


.... build suspense?!?! What the hell?!?!