2024 NFL Draft: Official pre-draft top-30 visits rules refresher

Catch up on the NFL’s top-30 visit rules — and what it means for the Buffalo Bills

Longtime Buffalo Rumblings readers have likely memorized even the finer details pertaining to pre-draft top-30 visits. We endeavor to keep Bills Mafia well-informed and at the head of the class in any conversation about the Buffalo Bills. That’s precisely why we’re once again covering the topic of NFL prospect pre-draft visits.

For NFL scouts and general managers, official pre-draft visits often represent the final piece of the puzzle in evaluating prospects ahead of the NFL Draft. There are strict regulations that teams must follow when hosting each of the official 30 pre-draft visitors. That said, Bills general manager Brandon Beane values getting to know a player’s “white-board” ability in these visits, and the team often learns key information during each gathering.

With an inability to conduct timed and other on-field tests, the Bills likely ask pre-draft visitors to complete off-field written tests, and conduct interviews and medical re-checks for any players previously flagged for such reason.

Given that each team can only conduct 30 such visits, these meetings can hold great importance. However, it’s important to remember that these visits alone do not necessarily serve as a tell to One Bills Drive’s draft intentions.

Teams host players for a multitude of reasons, some of which have little to do with their interest in the player being interviewed. While that may seem strange, sometimes prospects are brought in to provide insider information about certain college teammates in whom a team has interest. Other times, prospects are brought in as red herrings; by feigning interest in a certain player, teams conceal who they are truly interested in.

Of important note: Players who reside in a club’s home market can be timed, tested, and given a physical and do not count against the 30-player limit. For the Buffalo Bills, prospects from colleges in the following counties are exempt from top-30 pre-draft rules:

• Allegany, NY
• Cattaraugus, NY
• Chautauqua, NY
• Erie, NY
• Genesee, NY
• Wyoming, NY
• Niagara, NY
• McKean, PA
• Potter, PA