A brief estimate of when Carolina will be on the clock.
The day is finally here and we have just hours left before the Carolina Panthers are officially on the clock to either make or trade the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. We have no way of knowing just yet if they will trade the pick, announce Jalon Walker, or kick Sebastian Janikowski out of the history books, but we can take a whack at estimating when they will be making that decision tonight.
The first round of the draft starts around 8:00 PM ET tonight. Teams will have ten minutes to make their selection. Teams have historically averaged about eight minutes per pick.
My guess is that things will not be exactly on time, but that the first few no-brainer picks will be announced in quick succession.
Let’s estimate that the Tennessee Titans announce Cam Ward as the first overall pick at 8:15 and, to draw out the broadcast, Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter will be announced about five minutes apart after that. That leaves the New England Patriots on the clock about 8:25. From here we’ll assume teams take the average amount of time to make and announce their selections.
That would put the Carolina Panthers on the clock to make the eighth overall pick at 8:57 PM ET. We can expect Dan Morgan to milk every second in pursuit of a trade back that is unlikely to materialize. That would have the Panthers announcing their pick at 9:07 PM ET.
If forced to pick then it is worth noting that the team has been connected to Walker with what ammounts to speculative chains at this point, which would make him the smart bet, if one were so inclined. But Walker is also picking up steam as a possibility for teams ahead of the Panthers.
It’s draft week, so rumors abound. What is known is that this is a historically soft first round, with little difference between the 8th and the 20th picks. Expect the team to take their time deciding on a player no matter when they are ultimately on the clock.