If the NFL draft comes to Buffalo, expect it to happen in either 2029 or 2030.
Pete Guelli, the Bills and Sabres' chief operating officer, said Wednesday that the Buffalo Bills continue to pursue the NFL draft, and the most likely dates for that would be 2029 and 2030.
“If that worked out,” Guelli said.
An aerial view of the new Buffalo Bills stadium construction and Highmark Stadium on July 15, 2025.
The Bills in 2024 announced their intention to bid for a future NFL draft, with the original target of 2028. Guelli told The Buffalo News in April that the initial focus of hosting the NFL draft would likely be on 2029, at the new Highmark Stadium, which is scheduled to open in the summer of 2026.
Pittsburgh will host the 2026 NFL Draft and the National Mall in Washington, D.C. will host the 2027 draft.
The 2028, 2029 and 2030 NFL Draft locations have not yet been announced.
Guelli’s timetable regarding the possibility of Buffalo hosting the draft came in response to a question by The News about the possibility of the new Highmark Stadium hosting an outdoor NHL game.
“We’ve talked to the league about the Winter Classic, we talked to them about the Stadium Series,” Guelli said. “We told them, ‘We want it. We’d love to have it here.’ Right now, we’re in the process of kind of looking at the dates that might make the most sense for that.”
As for feedback from the NHL about the possibility?
“They would love to have it here,” Guelli said. “The first outdoor game in NHL history was hosted here in Buffalo (the 2008 Winter Classic). It was a big success. It will be fun to, maybe, memorialize that event with another one here in this market, and to do it at the new stadium. I think it’s the perfect venue.”
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