Indianapolis Colts’ general manager Chris Ballard hopped on The Rich Eisen Show on Thursday to talk about this year’s NFL draft. Despite not having a first-round pick, he chimed in on how he felt about the eight-minute clock on Day 1 this year, two minutes shorter than 2025.
“It was great, because we’re not there until midnight. I mean, we can get it done, we know what we are going to do, teams know what they are going to do,” said Ballard.
This is the first year the NFL has used an eight-minute clock for the first round, down previously from 10 minutes. From 2008 to 2025, the NFL used a 10-minute clock for Round 1.
“If we are going to make a trade, there’s been enough talk beforehand, and when we get on the clock we can get it done,” Ballard responded to any speculation of in-draft trades that could be impacted by the shorter round. “I’m all for cutting it to five (minutes), if we could do it, I’m alright with it.”
Ballard made his reasoning abundantly clear; in today’s NFL, front offices and scouting departments have done their due diligence to research possible selections far before the draft takes place.
“If we’re on the clock and we’re still debating who we are taking; it’s a little late,” he said.
In its first year with the shorter clock, the first night of draft finished in 2 hours and 53 minutes. In 2025, day one took closer to four hours.
The Indianapolis Colts did not have a first round selection in the 2026 NFL Draft as part of a mid-season trade with the New York Jets for defensive back Sauce Gardner.
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Why Colts Chris Ballard likes new 8-minute clock for Round 1 of NFL Draft
Reporting by Cameron Cocquyt, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
