That sound you hear this morning is applause across the entire NFL community.
The NFL Scouting Combine will return to Indianapolis for 2026, sources tell CBS Sports, continuing a nearly four-decade partnership with the city that has successfully hosted the event that is essential to NFL Draft preparation.
Members of the NFL community — from medical professionals to coaches and scouts — have been overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the combine in Indianapolis as the league has considered the idea of taking the show on the road in recent years. In 2022, the two sides agreed to a two-year extension, and this is now the second consecutive one-year extension.
Indianapolis has hosted the event since 1987. Its downtown location has been the cradle of the combine, with several hotels, Lucas Oil Stadium and access to local hospitals for the medical portion of the combine.
“Indianapolis and the NFL Combine have a proud history together, so we’re thrilled to continue our longstanding partnership with Visit Indy, the Indianapolis Colts, and the local community for this 2026 event,” NFL EVP Peter O’Reilly said in a statement provided to CBS Sports. “Our partners in Indy have successfully hosted the football evaluation process for decades, and recently, we’ve collectively worked to grow and evolve the in-person fan experience, bringing tens of thousands of fans closer to the league’s future stars.”
The upcoming combine will take place between Feb. 27 and March 2. The dates of the 2026 combine are not yet public, but it’s expected to be around the same time. Should the NFL expand to an 18-game schedule that moves the Super Bowl another week into February, it’s possible the combine would be pushed back a week into early March. But there’s no indication an 18th game will be added for the 2025 season to effect change.
Cities like Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Minneapolis have all expressed a desire to some varying degree to potentially host the combine in future years. It’s unclear if any city placed a bid with the league to wrest the combine from Indianapolis’s clutches.
The league has hoped to make the combine one of its tentpole media events for offseason eyeballs. The NFL has tinkered with the schedule of events in recent years in hopes of maximizing ratings.
The NFL has also had to deal with waning participation among the top players in recent years. More and more top picks have opted against running the 40-yard-dash or doing on-field drills, deciding instead to wait until their pro days in more familiar and controlled environments.
For more draft coverage, you can hear in-depth analysis twice a week on “With the First Pick” — our year-round NFL Draft podcast with NFL Draft analyst Ryan Wilson and former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman. You can find “With the First Pick” wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Listen below!