Detroit, MI
2024 NFL draft in Detroit: Everything you need to know before you go
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan on 2024 NFL draft in Downtown Detroit
“What the team here has done has created so many other spaces where you’re going to be able to watch and hear the draft.”
The 2024 NFL draft is in Detroit on April 25-27, as you probably have heard by now. If you’re traveling to Detroit for the draft, here’s a guide to make your draft experience easy and unforgettable.
Information on registration, parking, travel, street closings, and draft day activities are all below.
When is the 2024 NFL draft?
The 2024 NFL draft is from April 25-27 in Detroit, spanning from Campus Martius to Hart Plaza in downtown with additional events in Beacon Park, Capitol Park, Grand Circus Park, Harmonie Park, and along Woodward Avenue.
2024 NFL draft registration
If you still have not signed up for the free draft day experience, there’s still time to register using the NFLOnePass app or online through the website.
Registering for the event only guarantees you the NFL draft footprint in downtown Detroit. You must buy tickets separately for the actual draft theater.
Ticket packages are available for purchase for the second and third rounds starting at $950 per person — the fourth through seventh rounds start at $550 per person as well. Please be wary of potential ticket scams.
Can I still book a hotel in Detroit for the draft?
With the NFL draft just two weeks away, options are limited if you’re still looking to book a place near the NFL draft in Detroit. Here’s what to know.
Downtown Detroit transportation
Detroit has multiple public transport options to get around downtown. The city has a streetcar, an elevated rail system, bike share, and bus system to get you where you need to go.
That said, plan to get downtown early and be prepared to leave late. Hundreds of thousands of fans are expected to travel to Detroit over the course of the draft’s three days.
Detroit parking for 2024 NFL draft
You can pay for metered parking through Park Detroit’s website or app. There are also options for private parking throughout the city.
More: Downtown Detroit parking lots to see upgrades ahead of 2024 NFL draft
Detroit road closures for 2024 NFL draft
The city will start phase three of its street closings on April 15 at midnight. This marks the halfway point of the action plan to close downtown streets to accommodate the draft day build-out.
Closed streets for phase three:
- Jefferson Avenue; Bates Street; Atwater Street
- Southbound M-10 (Lodge), full closure at West Jefferson(Exit 1A: open); Larned ramp (Exit 1B: open)
Things to do in Detroit during the 2024 NFL draft
Detroit is a city rich with museums, restaurants and activities throughout. If you’re interested in exploring the area outside of the draft, you can go to the Motown Museum, the Michigan Science Center, check out golf rich southeast Michigan, and even catch a Detroit Tigers game on April 26, 27 or 28 when they host the Kansas City Royals.
Get a souvenir while you’re in the city.
More: NFL draft in Detroit: Hotels, restaurants, things to do for traveling fans
Detroit NFL draft activities
Draft day activities are from noon-10 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, events go from 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Activities include a Pro Football Hall of Fame exhibit and an autograph signing opportunity with current and former NFL players, as well as a 40-yard dash, vertical jump, deep throw accuracy challenges, and more. There will also be a collection of Detroit-based food trucks for participants who attend.
More: Detroit City Council OKs several public, private NFL draft events
Usually, the top prospects that go at the beginning of the first round will attend the draft in person, so players such as Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Marvin Harrison Jr., Jayden Daniels and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy could walk across the stage in the heart of downtown Detroit. There have not been any announcements yet of which prospects will be at the draft April 25.
What else is Detroit doing for the NFL draft?
Here’s a list of other attractions and events planned for Detroit and the 2024 NFL draft:
Follow the Detroit Free Press on Instagram (@detroitfreepress), TikTok (@detroitfreepress), YouTube (@DetroitFreePress), Twitter/X (@freep), and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook (@detroitfreepress).
Detroit, MI
Detroit Lions score 4 players with AP All-Pro nods, including 2 first-timers
ALLEN PARK — Jack Campbell and Penei Sewell were named to the AP All-Pro first-team for the Detroit Lions.
It’s the third consecutive first-team nod for Sewell, 25, who was also named Pro Football Focus’ protector of the year earlier this week. PFF graded Sewell as the top offensive lineman, and not just tackle, in the NFL this season. He allowed only two sacks and 19 pressures across 601 pass-blocking snaps as the top-ranked pass-blocking offensive lineman.
For all the focus on the offensive line and what needs to happen this offseason, Sewell’s presence gives them a cornerstone, blue-chip piece to build around.
Campbell earned his first Pro Bowl and All-Pro nod this season, putting the bows on a true breakout campaign for the former first-round pick. The 25-year-old joins Chris Spielman and Joe Schmidt as the only Lions linebackers ever to make the All-Pro first-team.
The linebacker finished the season by playing all 17 games for the third straight season, posting career highs in tackles (176), sacks (five), forced fumbles (three), fumble recoveries (two) and tackles for loss (nine). Campbell did all this while taking over the green dot for the first time, and playing more snaps than any other teammate — offense, defense or special teams.
The third-year linebacker finished the season as PFF’s second-best overall linebacker, trailing only Fred Warner of the San Francisco 49ers. Campbell’s 176 tackles were the second-most in the league in 2025.
“He’s extremely valuable,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said of his linebacker last month. “He’s taken more reps than anybody on this team. He plays on kickoff for us, and he’s an asset on kickoff and then everything you see on defense. He doesn’t come off the field; he’s our bell-cow, green-dot. And he does –, and the guy is smart, and he’s instinctive, and he is snap-to-whistle all-out, all the time, in practice too. And he doesn’t take plays off, he doesn’t take days off, he goes after the football, he’s a ball guy.
“So, he’s invaluable.”
Amon-Ra St. Brown, who had made the first team in consecutive years, was named to the AP’s second team this time around. St. Brown finished the season fifth in receptions (117), fifth in yards (1,401), tied for second in touchdowns (11) and seventh in yards after the catch (570).
The star wideout became the first player in league history to have at least 90 catches through a player’s first five seasons. St. Brown has at least 100 catches and 1,000 yards in four straight seasons, and has caught double-digit touchdowns in the last three.
Aidan Hutchinson joined in on the fun this year, too. Hutchinson earns his first AP All-Pro team nod, landing a second-team spot this season. Not too shabby for someone returning from a season-ending leg injury, and his return served as quite the response.
Hutchinson, who got his big extension this year, played every game and set a new career-best mark with 14.5 sacks and 35 quarterback hits. He also scored his second Pro Bowl appearance this year, as well. Since PFF started tracking pressures, there have been six players to reach the 100-pressure mark. Hutchinson is the only one on that list to have done it twice.
The pass rusher led the NFL in pressures created, finishing the campaign with a clear 100. The next closest player was Jacksonville’s Josh Hines-Allen, who had 95.
“The number of things that he’s able to do for us in the run and the pass game,” Dan Campbell said of Hutchinson earlier in the season. “Man, it takes up — he pulls a lot of slack, man. You talk about pulling your weight, he pulls his weight and then some. He requires a lot of resources offensively, which helps everybody else out. Guys like him, he’s in that rare world of man, you don’t get the easy way out. He’s got to beat the nudges, he’s got to beat the back chip, then the tackle’s on him. Or he’s got to beat the nudge, sometimes the back, the tackle, and the slide’s coming to him with the guard also.
“So, sometimes you may have to beat three, sometimes four. But if that’s the case, somebody else is winning. They’ve got to win. So, what he does is not easy, and I go back to this. He is a complete football player; he does it all. And he’s disruptive, he’s violent, he’s high motor, he’s crafty, he’s explosive, he’s tough, he’s competitive. And he does it all. He does it all.”
For a full look at the AP’s All-Pro voting results, click here. Of note, longtime former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford earned the first All-Pro first-team nod of his career this year. Stafford remains in the MVP hunt, and this honor usually leads to that.
Detroit, MI
Vigil, protest held for Renee Nicole Good at Detroit’s Clark park
Vigil held in Detroit for woman fatally shot by ICE agent in Minnesota
People gather at Detroit’s Clark Park on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026 to host a vigil for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.
The name Renee Nicole Good bounced off the buildings of southwest Detroit as hundreds marched on the evening of Friday, Jan. 9, following Good’s fatal shooting by an immigration agent in Minneapolis earlier in the week.
A candlelight vigil was held at 6 p.m. at the city’s Clark Park in memory of Good, before attendees took off marching down Vernor Highway.
As of 7:30 p.m., the mass crowd had reached Cavalry Street, about half a mile away from the park, and turned, yelling “What do we want? Justice ” and calling for ICE’s ousting from communities.
Good, 37, was in her car when she was shot in the head on Wednesday, Jan.7, by a federal immigration officer in south Minneapolis. She leaves behind three children, ages 6, 12 and 15.
The shooting was recorded by witnesses and heightened political and community tensions over federal immigration enforcement as part of President Donald Trump’s nationwide immigration operations. The Trump administration has since said the shooting was done in self-defense, USA TODAY reports.
Protests have occurred in cities across the U.S. since Good’s death, including gatherings in Michigan, and additional demonstrations are scheduled throughout the weekend.
This is a developing story.
Detroit, MI
Debating Mike McDaniel’s fit for Detroit Lions OC job
But we also can’t ignore the drastic fall-off from the Dolphins’ offense. Partially because of injuries to Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill over the past two seasons, the Dolphins have finished 22nd and 25th in scoring offense in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Injuries can be used as an excuse, but the greatest coordinators find a way through the adversity.
Beyond that, there are questions about his philosophical and schematic fit. While the Lions have built their offenses on grit and physicality, McDaniel seems to favor speed and finesse. But maybe that’s exactly what the Lions need. Detroit has two speedy players in Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs, who could probably be utilized more creatively, and it’s hard to imagine anyone better than McDaniel to do so.
McDaniel also has a very long coaching history with a lot of different coaching influences and schemes—including his closest coaching guru: Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers head coach has a scheme that is both more congruent with what the Lions do and much more adaptable.
On this EMERGENCY PODCAST, our crew debates the fit of McDaniel in Detroit, along with our thoughts on the Lions’ other known candidate: Commanders quarterbacks coach David Blough.
Before that, Erik Schlitt, Ryan Mathews, and I discuss our biggest takeaways from Lions general manager Brad Holmes’ end-of-season press conference, including the future of David Montgomery, whether Holmes really took accountability for his mistakes, and our confidence in him moving forward.
You can catch our discussion in the embedded podcast below or on any podcasting platform you’d prefer. Just search “Pride of Detroit.”
You can also catch video of the show over on our YouTube pages. Here are the links:
-
Detroit, MI7 days ago2 hospitalized after shooting on Lodge Freeway in Detroit
-
Technology4 days agoPower bank feature creep is out of control
-
Dallas, TX5 days agoDefensive coordinator candidates who could improve Cowboys’ brutal secondary in 2026
-
Dallas, TX2 days agoAnti-ICE protest outside Dallas City Hall follows deadly shooting in Minneapolis
-
Iowa4 days agoPat McAfee praises Audi Crooks, plays hype song for Iowa State star
-
Delaware1 day agoMERR responds to dead humpback whale washed up near Bethany Beach
-
Health6 days agoViral New Year reset routine is helping people adopt healthier habits
-
Nebraska4 days agoOregon State LB transfer Dexter Foster commits to Nebraska