A brief estimate of when Carolina will be on the clock.
Day 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft starts at 7:00 PM ET tonight. The Carolina Panthers currently hold the 57th overall pick, a second rounder, and the 74th overall pick, a third rounder. Rumors abound that they may try to trade up in the second round to catch a talented edge rusher, a move that would shore up their top need after taking wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan with the eighth overall pick last night.
How does Day 2 work?
The second round commences with seven minutes afforded to each team to make their selection. There are 32 picks in the second round. The second round is often more trade heavy than the first or the third round as teams want to move up to grab falling players that they had first round grades on.
That is immediately followed by the third round, where each team has five minutes per pick. There are 38 picks in the third round, including six compensatory selections that were awarded to the Minnesota Vikings, the Miami Dolphins, the New York Giants, the San Francisco 49ers, the Los Angeles Rams, and the Detroit Lions. The Panthers were not awarded any compensatory picks in any round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Can we predict when the Panthers will pick?
We obviously cannot predict when the Panthers will pick if they trade up or back in either round tonight. This is one of those draft nights where you’ll have to watch from the beginning if you want to be on top of any sudden news.
However, we can make a decent estimate for when they’ll be on the clock if they keep their current picks. We were only a minute off on our prediction last night of when they would be on the clock, though the actual pick time was further off because the Panthers took very little time off the clock before picking McMillan.
When will they pick in the second round?
We’re going to start by assuming approximately five minutes per pick on the clock (to account for trade activity and speeches by honorees from the previous team), with the first pick being announced around 7:08 PM. The 33rd pick will be announced after a brief opening statement and ceremonial booing of league commissioner Roger Goodell.
That means the Panthers should be expected to be on the clock at 9:08 PM ET for the 57th overall pick. The Panthers often make their selection a little faster than average, then have the broadcast cut away to commercials as soon as their pick is in. So let’s hold the average selection time for them and say that the 57th overall pick should be announced at approximately 9:13 PM ET after a few family friendly vignettes about trucks, dog food, and maybe some life insurance.
When will they pick in the third round?
While the second round will take a little over two-and-a-half hours, the third round should be much faster. There will be fewer trades and more tired executives. The third round is also where more teams’ boards start to differ. Teams can make fast decisions with less competition and picks come in more quickly. Let’s say they’ll average two-and-a-half minutes per selection.
The third round should start at approximately 9:45 PM ET. At this point they’ll be moving things along to try to get the whole thing televised before midnight. If the Panthers hold the 74th overall pick, the tenth pick in the 3rd round, then they should be on the clock about 9:59 PM ET and would then make their selection at 10:02 PM ET after a sharing few more heartfelt concerns about how you manage your moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.
Can I bet on this?
Not exactly.
FanDuel is offering odds on a handful of players and on the 33rd overall pick, but they don’t have anything for the 34th pick—let alone anything for as deep in the draft as the remaining picks belonging to the Carolina Panthers.