NFL draft to go on as scheduled April 23-25, Roger Goodell memo says

The NFL draft will go on as scheduled April 23-25, commissioner Roger Goodell said in a leaguewide memo distributed Thursday.

Goodell said in his memo, obtained by ESPN's Adam Schefter, that the NFL Management Council Executive Committee had met earlier Thursday and was "unanimous and unequivocal that the draft should go forward as scheduled," despite the coronavirus pandemic that has disrupted work for most of the nation.

Goodell acknowledged there will have to be significant changes and told teams to prepare to conduct the draft outside team facilities and with a limited number of people. Prospects and their families will not be present on site at the draft, according to the memo.

"Everyone recognizes that the public health conditions are highly uncertain and there is no assurance that we can select a different date and be confident that conditions will be significantly more favorable than they are today," he wrote.

"I also believe that the Draft can serve a very positive purpose for our clubs, our fans and the country at large, and many of you have agreed," he wrote.