Expect a number of teams to make moves on opening night
Just over a week away from the 2025 NFL Draft, things are starting to come into clearer focus.
We have a very good idea of who will come off the board with the No. 1 overall pick: Miami quarterback Cam Ward. We have very strong indications that both Colorado’s Travis Hunter and Penn State’s Abdul Carter will be selected soon after, if not with the Nos. 2 and 3 overall picks. We know at which positions the draft is strong and at which it is weak, and we know which teams have needs in which areas of their roster.
What we truly don’t know is who will be making which selections, because teams are always liable to trade up or down to try to nab their player of choice or acquire additional draft capital. And that’s why we’re here today. We’re going to highlight some teams that could be looking to make a move up in the draft, whether in the first round or at a later time.
These two teams are in essentially the same exact position, in that they seem likely to at least explore trading up for a quarterback if they don’t take Shedeur Sanders with the No. 2 or 3 overall pick. The Browns, specifically, have absolutely zero answers at the position at the moment, so if Sanders or Jaxson Dart or Jalen Milroe or whomever they identify as their guy begins to slip down the board, we could see them try to move up. The Giants might be able to talk themselves into Russell Wilson or Jameis Winston being a short-term solution for this season, but they also have nothing when it comes to a quarterback of the future.
Either one of these teams could simply wait and hope their guy falls to them at the top of the second round, but the Giants would have to move ahead of the Browns if they want to make sure they don’t get sniped.
The Patriots have two major needs, and two premium picks with which to fill them. Depending on which position — left tackle or wide receiver — they draft at No. 4 overall, it’s not hard to envision them then moving up from the top of the second round and into the tail end of the first to land their player of choice at the opposite position. If someone like Emeka Egbuka or Luther Burden III at receiver, or Josh Simmons or Josh Conerly Jr., is still available in the late first, perhaps the Pats can be tempted into jumping back into Day 1.
Should the Saints be even remotely interested in trading up? No, they should not. But that’s been true of the Saints before, and they’ve done it anyway. You can’t put it past them to do it again — even if it doesn’t really make sense.
The Niners have 11 total picks in this draft and needs at a few premium positions. If they find themselves a few picks away from landing the top non-Abdul Carter edge rusher in the class, will they place a call to the Panthers or Saints and try to move up? I can see it happening.
Houston still desperately needs offensive line help, and given Tank Dell’s injury issues, could also use another complementary receiver alongside Nico Collins. Jumping in front of some of the O-Line or receiver-needy teams in front of them could make a certain degree of sense — especially if they are sitting at the tail end of a position run and don’t think somebody will make it to their slot.
These teams are all basically in the same type of position. They are inner-circle contenders looking to put the finishing touches on their roster. And they probably don’t want to let one of the other teams in this group snipe one of their targets away from them. The Bills have extra picks they can use to move up this year. The Chiefs are seemingly always looking to move. And the Eagles are maybe the league’s premier draft-trade team, given how much Howie Roseman likes to maneuver around the board. The positions each team might seek in a trade-up would probably be different, but the motivation would be the same.
The 2025 NFL Draft will take place from April 24 to 26 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. More draft coverage can be found at CBSSports.com, including daily mock drafts, consensus prospect rankings, biggest team needs and more.
