The 1945 NFL draft was held on April 8, 1945, at the Commodore Hotel in New York City, New York. Perhaps as a tip of the hat to wartime sensibilities, the 1945 draft was officially called the "1944 Preferred Negotiations List" by the league.

With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Cardinals selected halfback Charley Trippi.

Although there were formally 32 rounds of the draft, each of the 11 teams made a total of 30 selections, with a total of 330 players chosen. A total of 22 players were selected before they became eligible for the draft under league rules. These draft choices were forfeited by the team and are noted below. The actual number of drafted-and-eligible players chosen in the 1945 draft was thus 308.