Report: April 30 ‘gaining traction’ as draft start date

The NFL could start its 2015 draft on April 30. (USATSI)

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The 2014 NFL Draft was largely a success for the league. Media complaining and Mother's Day weekend conflicts aside, there wasn't too much wrong with the first foray into a May draft. And the ratings certainly didn't disappoint.

But we might see the 2015 NFL Draft kicking off earlier than this year. According to Sal Paolantonio of ESPN the league is looking at April 30 as a potential start date for next year's draft.

"One proposal gaining traction is to make the draft one week earlier so it doesn't conflict with Mother's Day next year," Paolantonio said.

The NFL moved to Mother's Day weekend for the 2014 draft largely because of a conflict on Easter weekend at Radio City Music Hall. Radio City eventually cancelled that conflict (a Rockettes show!) meaning nothing happened in the New York venue during the normal draft weekend.

TheMMQB.com's Peter King reported Monday morning the league "seethed" when Radio City made that decision. (And I don't blame them for seething.) So Radio City could be losing the draft and so could New York City -- a "solid source" told King the draft is "likely" somewhere else next season.

“At this point, I think it's likely the draft is elsewhere in 2015," King's source said.

That same source told King "we do not want the draft on Mother's Day weekend" and, again, can you blame them? Holding the draft on Mother's Day weekend unnecessarily miffs a pretty large segment of the population and would make a four-day draft weekend almost impossible. You don't mess with moms.

Look at the calendar for 2015 and April 30 makes a lot of sense. Mother's Day is Sunday, May 10th. You could start the draft on Thursday, April 30 and wrap it up on either Saturday, May 2 or Sunday, May 3.

It slots the draft in between Easter and Mother's Day, gives everyone who was mad a week back and keeps the NFL in the month of May. It's a logical choice for 2015, so don't be surprised if and when it gets locked down.

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Ravens will hold RB Bernard Pierce out of all spring practices



When Ravens running back Bernard Pierce underwent shoulder surgery in late January, the early prognosis was that he would miss up to five months of action. Now that we're in May, it seems like that number hasn't changed. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said Saturday that Pierce won't practice at all during these spring months but should be full-go in time for training camp."He's been allowed to move around a little bit, but we just can't risk him falling on it right now and getting a setback," Harbaugh said of Pierce. "So, you're probably looking at training camp for him, which shouldn't be an issue as long as you don't get a setback."



Pierce is coming off a forgettable season in which he averaged 2.9 yards per with 152 carries. This was after he averaged nearly 5 yards per carry in 2012. But the Ravens are looking to expand the 24-year-old's playing time this season in offensive coordinator's Gary Kubiak's zone-blocking scheme. And the team might be forced to give Pierce more action if Ray Rice is handed a suspension for his domestic violence issue. Pierce should be a popular mid-round selection.