2004 NFL draft

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title: "2004 NFL draft" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["nfl-draft", "2004-nfl-season", "2004-in-sports-in-new-york-city", "april-2004-sports-events-in-the-united-states", "american-football-in-new-york-city", "2000s-in-manhattan", "sporting-events-in-new-york-city"] description: "69th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible players" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_NFL_draft" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 69th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible players ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox sports draft"]

Field	Value
name	2004 NFL draft
image	2004nfldraft.png
alt	2004 NFL draft logo
date	April 24–25, 2004
location	Theater at MSG
in New York City
network	ESPN, ESPN2
league	NFL
mr_irrelevant	Andre Sommersell, LB
Oakland Raiders
first	Eli Manning, QB
San Diego Chargers
fewnum	4
fewest	Washington Redskins
mostnum	13
most	Tennessee Titans
overall	255
rounds	7
hofnum	{{ Collapsible list
title	1
1	DE Jared Allen
prev	2003
next	2005
::

| name = 2004 NFL draft | logo = | logosize = | logoalt = | image = 2004nfldraft.png | imagesize = | alt = 2004 NFL draft logo | caption = | date = April 24–25, 2004 | time = | location = Theater at MSG in New York City | network = ESPN, ESPN2 | sponsor = | league = NFL | mr_irrelevant = Andre Sommersell, LB Oakland Raiders | first = Eli Manning, QB San Diego Chargers | first_round = | fewnum = 4 | fewest = Washington Redskins | mostnum = 13 | most = Tennessee Titans | overall = 255 | rounds = 7 | hofnum = {{ Collapsible list | title = 1 | 1 = DE Jared Allen | prev = 2003 | next = 2005 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 from April 24–25, 2004, at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. 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 the 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. Seven wide receivers were selected in the first round, a draft record later tied in 2024. Another record set by the draft was the most trades in the first round, with 28 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. It was the first draft to have produced two quarterbacks who each won multiple Super Bowls, with Ben Roethlisberger winning his second in 2008 and Eli Manning his second in 2011.

The 255 players chosen in the draft were composed of:

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TOC

Player selections

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‡	Hall of Fame]]rPlayers are identified as a Hall of Famer if they have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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| cellspacing="2"| |} | direction = vertical | width = 150 | footer = Quarterbacks Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, and Ben Roethlisberger (top to bottom) each served as the franchise starters of their teams for nearly two decades | image1 = 2012 Packers vs Giants - Eli Manning 2.jpg | alt1 = | caption1 = | image2 = Philip Rivers 2006-10-01.jpg | alt2 = | caption2 = | image3 = Ben Roethlisberger 2020.jpg | alt3 = | caption3 = ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Larry_Fitzgerald_2015.JPG" caption="Wide receiver [[Larry Fitzgerald]] is second in NFL receiving yards and receptions"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Sean_Taylor.jpg" caption="Murdered during his fourth season, safety [[Sean Taylor]] nonetheless established himself as a dominant and popular player"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Vince-Wilfork_8-28-09_Patriots-vs-Redskins.jpg" caption="In a 13-season career, nose tackle [[Vince Wilfork]] made five [[Pro Bowl]]s and won two [[Super Bowl]]s"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Rams_running_back_Steven_Jackson_at_the_coaching_clinic.jpg" caption="Rams]]' all-time leading rusher"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Chris_cooley_2011.jpg" caption="Washington]] history"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Jared_Allen.jpg" caption="Defensive end [[Jared Allen]] twice led the league in sacks"] ::

| dab= | position=Offensive tackle | collegeyear=2003 | college=University of Iowa | collegeteam=Iowa Hawkeyes | collegelink=Iowa | probowl=no | note= |cfb page exists=yes }}

                  - Round 2   ************

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                  - Round 3   ************

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                  - Round 4   ************

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                  - Round 5   ************

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                  - Round 6   ************

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                  - Round 7   ************

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Notable undrafted players

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Wes_Welker_1.JPG" caption="Wide receiver [[Wes Welker]] was not drafted but was named to five [[Pro Bowl]]s."] ::

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†	= Pro Bowler
::

Hall of Famers

• Jared Allen, defensive end from Idaho State, taken 4th round 126th overall by the Kansas City Chiefs. :Inducted: Professional Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025.

Trades

In the explanations below, ** (D)** denotes trades that took place during the 2004 Draft, while ** (PD)** indicates trades completed pre-draft.

;Round one

;Round two

;Round three

;Round four

;Round five

;Round six

;Round seven

Notes

References

Sources

References

1. [http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/7255796 Facts & Figures] {{Webarchive. link. (May 19, 2006 .)
2. . (October 2, 2014). ["NFL Draft Locations"](http://www.footballgeography.com/nfl-draft-sites/).
3. (October 2, 2014). "NFL Draft headed to Chicago in 2015". [[New York Giants]].
4. {{usurped
5. (April 26, 2024). "2024 NFL Draft sets multiple records in first round: Historic night for QBs, plus the Raiders make a rare move".
6. Goldberg, Dave. "NFL draft scripted nicely by Manning". [[NBC Sports]] via [[Associated Press.
7. "Round 1". ESPN.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::