Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
If the notion that the NFL could still proceed with its draft in this climate has felt like a fantasy, the league is indeed making it a fantasy.
As in, it will be borrowing from fantasy football.
The 2020 NFL Draft will be conducted entirely virtually, the league announced in a reported memo sent to executives and coaches Monday.
There will be no gathering in Las Vegas. There will be no gathering at team headquarters. There will be no gathering at a coach’s house. The teams will operate remotely in trying to follow the shelter-at-home guidelines instituted in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Let’s hope everyone’s internet will be working and await the Browns accidentally setting theirs to “autodraft.”
“Clubs have been advised to prepare to conduct the 2020 Draft entirely outside of their facilities and in a fully virtual format,” the memo states, “with club personnel in separate locations and able to communicate with one another and Draft headquarters by phone or internet.”
The NFL has been the only league mostly unaffected by the infectious disease, as it still went ahead with free agency and believes its April 23-25 draft can be “held” without incident.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell just informed clubs in a memo that club facilities will remain closed indefinitely and the league will conduct a “fully virtual” draft, with club personnel separately located in their homes. pic.twitter.com/28t2kNnLAI
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 6, 2020