69th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible players
The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 2004 at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.[1][2][3] No teams chose to claim any players in the supplemental draft that year.
The draft was shown on ESPN both days and eventually moved to ESPN2 both days. The draft began with the San Diego Chargers selecting Mississippi quarterback Eli Manning with the first overall selection. Due to his refusal to play for the Chargers, Manning was later traded to the New York Giants for their first selection, fourth overall pick Philip Rivers of NC State. There were 32 compensatory selections distributed among 16 teams, with the Eagles, Rams, and Jets each receiving 4 compensatory picks.[4] The draft set several records, including the most wide receivers selected in the first round, with seven. Another record set by the draft was the most trades in the first round, with twenty-eight trades. The University of Miami set an NFL record for the most first rounders drafted with six, which would be tied by Alabama in 2021. Ohio State set an NFL draft record having 14 total players selected through all rounds. As of 2012, this draft also has two other records attached to it: it became the draft with the shortest time between having multiple quarterbacks being drafted and starting for Super Bowl winners (Ben Roethlisberger for the 2005 Steelers, and Manning for the 2007 Giants) and it has become the first draft ever to have produced two QBs who each won multiple Super Bowls (with Roethlisberger winning his second in 2008 and Manning his second in 2011).
The 255 players chosen in the draft were composed of:
As of the 2022 season, Arizona Cardinals punter Andy Lee is the only remaining selection on an NFL roster. Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Jason Peters also remains active from this draft class, but he was not selected during the draft. Following Tom Brady’s retirement in February 2023, the 2004 NFL Draft is the oldest draft with active players.
Trades
In the explanations below, (D) denotes trades that took place during the 2004 Draft, while (PD) indicates trades completed pre-draft.
- Round one
- ^ No. 1: San Diego → New York Giants. San Diego traded Manning to the New York Giants in exchange for Philip Rivers and the Giants' third round selection in this draft (#65) and their first- and fifth-round selections in 2005[5]
- ^ No. 4: New York Giants → San Diego (D). See No. 1: San Diego → New York Giants.
- ^ No. 6: Detroit → Cleveland (D). Detroit traded its first-round selection (6th) to Cleveland in exchange for Cleveland's first- and second-round selections (7th and 37th).
- ^ No. 7: Cleveland → Detroit (D). see No. 6: Detroit → Cleveland.
- ^ No. 16: San Francisco → Philadelphia (D). San Francisco traded its first-round selection (16th) to Philadelphia in exchange for Philadelphia's first- and second-round selections (28th and 58th).
- ^ No. 17: Cincinnati → Denver (D). Cincinnati traded its first-round selection (17th) to Denver in exchange for Denver's first- and fourth-round selections (24th and 117th) and CB Deltha O'Neal.
- ^ No. 19: Minnesota → Miami (D). Minnesota traded its first-round selection (19th) to Miami in exchange for Miami's first- and fourth-round selections (20th and 119th).
- ^ No. 20: Miami → Minnesota (D). see No. 19: Minnesota → Miami.
- ^ No. 21: Baltimore → New England (PD). Baltimore traded its second-round selection (41st) in 2003 and this first-round selection (21st) to New England in exchange for New England's first-round selection (19th) in 2003.
- ^ No. 22: Dallas → Buffalo (D). Dallas traded its first-round selection (22nd) to Buffalo in exchange for Buffalo's second- and fifth-round selections (43rd and 144th) and first-round selection (20th) in 2005.
- ^ No. 24: multiple trades:
No. 24: Denver → Cincinnati (D). see No. 17: Cincinnati → Denver.
No. 24: Cincinnati → St. Louis (D). Cincinnati traded this first-round selection (24th) to St. Louis in exchange for St. Louis' first- and fourth-round selections (26th and 123rd).
- ^ No. 26: St. Louis → Cincinnati (D). see No. 24: Cincinnati → St. Louis.
- ^ No. 27: Tennessee → Houston (D). Tennessee traded its first- and fifth-round selections (27th and 159th) to Houston in exchange for Houston's second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-round selections (40th, 71st, 103rd and 138th).
- ^ No. 28: multiple trades:
No. 28: Philadelphia → San Francisco (D). see No. 16: San Francisco → Philadelphia.
No. 28: San Francisco → Carolina (D). San Francisco traded this first-round selection (28th) to Carolina in exchange for Carolina's first- and fourth-round selections (31st and 127th).
- ^ No. 29: Indianapolis → Atlanta (D). Indianapolis traded its first- and third-round selections (29th and 90th) to Atlanta in exchange for Atlanta's second-, third- and fourth-round selections (38th, 69th and 125th).
- ^ No. 30: Kansas City → Detroit (D). Kansas City traded its first-round selection (30th) to Detroit in exchange for Detroit's second- and fourth-round selections (36th and 105th) and fifth-round selection (147th) in 2005.
- ^ No. 31: Carolina → San Francisco (D). see No. 28: San Francisco → Carolina.
- Round two
- Round three
- Round four
- Round five
- Round six
- ^ No. 171: Washington → Denver (PD). Washington traded its sixth-round selection (171st) to Denver in exchange for DT Lional Dalton.
- ^ No. 174: Atlanta → Miami (D). Atlanta traded its sixth-round selection (174th) to Miami in exchange for Miami's sixth- and seventh-round selections (186th and 219th).
- ^ No. 175: Jacksonville → Houston (D). see No. 159: Houston → Jacksonville.
- ^ No. 176: Buffalo → Cleveland (PD). Buffalo traded its sixth-round selection (176th) to Cleveland in exchange for TE Mark Campbell.
- ^ No. 179: San Francisco → Green Bay (D). San Francisco traded its sixth-round selection (179th) to Green Bay in exchange for Green Bay's sixth- and seventh-round selections (188th and 226th).
- ^ No. 180: Chicago → Washington (PD). Chicago traded its sixth-round selection (176th) to Washington in exchange for FB Bryan Johnson.
- ^ No. 182: multiple trades:
No. 182: New Orleans → Dallas (D). see No. 156: Dallas → New Orleans.
No. 182: Dallas → Oakland (D). Dallas traded this sixth-round selection (182nd) to Oakland in exchange for Oakland's two seventh-round selections (205th and 223rd).
- ^ No. 185: Green Bay → Philadelphia (PD). Green Bay traded its sixth-round selection (185th) to Philadelphia in exchange for Philadelphia's seventh-round selection in 2003.
- ^ No. 186: Miami → Atlanta (D). see No. 174: Atlanta → Miami.
- ^ No. 188: multiple trades:
No. 188: Dallas → Green Bay (D). Dallas traded its sixth-round selection (188th) to Green Bay in exchange for WR Terry Glenn.
No. 188: Green Bay → San Francisco (D). see No. 179: San Francisco → Green Bay.
- ^ No. 194: St. Louis → Pittsburgh (PD). St. Louis traded its sixth-round selection (194th) to Pittsburgh in exchange for WR Troy Edwards.
- ^ No. 197: New England → Pittsburgh (PD). Pittsburgh were awarded New England's sixth-round selection (197th) as compensation for New England signing Pittsburgh's restricted free agent DE Rodney Bailey.
- Round seven