With less a week left before night one of the 2025 NFL draft, questions remain regarding the two biggest dominos of draft night.
It seems all but certain that the Tennessee Titans will select Miami quarterback Cam Ward first overall. What happens at picks two and three remains a mystery.
While it seems to be growing more and more likely that the Cleveland Browns (picking 2nd overall) and New York Giants (picking 3rd overall) will both pass on the quarterbacks, the two teams are avoiding showing their hand about what their plans entail for Thursday night.
In fact, NFL analyst Daniel Jeremiah called the mind games between the two teams a full blown game of chicken:
1) “Game of chicken” emerging between Browns, Giants? It’s beginning to feel like the top three picks in the 2025 NFL Draft are firming up. Miami QB Cam Ward is the overwhelming favorite at No. 1 to the Titans, Colorado’s two-way star Travis Hunter is being mocked to the Browns at No. 2 and Penn State’s Abdul Carter might not get past the Giants with the third pick.
That means the Browns and Giants would be passing on quarterbacks. So how will these two teams address those needs? Trade up from Round 2 or stand pat?
Jeremiah sees a fascinating little subplot between the Browns and Giants developing the longer the draft goes on, assuming viable QB options remain available. Those two teams also have “darned near identical” draft capital, as Jeremiah noted, for any potential trades, too.
“It’s almost a game of chicken, of who’s going to pay the biggest price, and how much do they love one of these quarterbacks,” Jeremiah said. “And I don’t even know that they like the same quarterbacks, so that’s kind of an interesting thing.”
After Ward, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart and Alabama’s Jalen Milroe (more on him later) are some possible early options. Louisville’s Tyler Shough also has met with QB-needy teams and could be a Day 2 option.
There are also some moving parts with teams. The Saints, picking ninth, are dealing with the uncertainty around Derek Carr’s health. It’s not clear if the Steelers, at No. 21, can count on Aaron Rodgers at this point. Do they enter the mix? Is it necessary to trade over either or both teams to land a signal-caller?
Jeremiah didn’t project a range with Sanders but said he believes the conversation on Dart starts at about No. 20 overall. The first round (and early second) might end up with more interesting QB maneuvering than we imagined a few months ago.”
Interestingly enough, the game of chicken is likely going on between the two teams because both teams need a quarterback and even if they pass on Sheduer Sanders or whatever quarterback they prefer at their respected picks, both teams may be interested in trading up back into the first round to take the quarterback they desire. The Browns have the first pick (33rd overall) in the second round and the Giants currently hold the second pick (34th overall).
Meanwhile, the Giants are heavily connected to both wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter and edge rusher Abdul Carter, but with the Browns pick being unclear, the Giants will likely have to wait until Thursday night to find out what direction the Browns are going.
The Giants are also keeping things very mysterious. General manager Joe Schoen has been adamant that picking a quarterback in this draft is not mandatory following the offseason signings both Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston. However, whether they are still exploring the possibility of the quarterbacks available or they did it for smokescreen reasons, the Giants hosted three prospects for private workouts last week.
The question marks at picks two and three are certainly having other teams picking in the top 10 doing extensive work on their planned scenarios ahead of the draft. Luckily, for the Giants, they really only have to plan for two scenarios to plan out their selection at third overall. Of course, that is assuming nobody calls with a trade offer Schoen can not pass up.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: NFL insider: Giants, Browns playing a ‘game of chicken’
With less a week left before night one of the 2025 NFL draft, questions remain regarding the two biggest dominos of draft night.
It seems all but certain that the Tennessee Titans will select Miami quarterback Cam Ward first overall. What happens at picks two and three remains a mystery.
While it seems to be growing more and more likely that the Cleveland Browns (picking 2nd overall) and New York Giants (picking 3rd overall) will both pass on the quarterbacks, the two teams are avoiding showing their hand about what their plans entail for Thursday night.
In fact, NFL analyst Daniel Jeremiah called the mind games between the two teams a full blown game of chicken:
1) “Game of chicken” emerging between Browns, Giants? It’s beginning to feel like the top three picks in the 2025 NFL Draft are firming up. Miami QB Cam Ward is the overwhelming favorite at No. 1 to the Titans, Colorado’s two-way star Travis Hunter is being mocked to the Browns at No. 2 and Penn State’s Abdul Carter might not get past the Giants with the third pick.
That means the Browns and Giants would be passing on quarterbacks. So how will these two teams address those needs? Trade up from Round 2 or stand pat?
Jeremiah sees a fascinating little subplot between the Browns and Giants developing the longer the draft goes on, assuming viable QB options remain available. Those two teams also have “darned near identical” draft capital, as Jeremiah noted, for any potential trades, too.
“It’s almost a game of chicken, of who’s going to pay the biggest price, and how much do they love one of these quarterbacks,” Jeremiah said. “And I don’t even know that they like the same quarterbacks, so that’s kind of an interesting thing.”
After Ward, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart and Alabama’s Jalen Milroe (more on him later) are some possible early options. Louisville’s Tyler Shough also has met with QB-needy teams and could be a Day 2 option.
There are also some moving parts with teams. The Saints, picking ninth, are dealing with the uncertainty around Derek Carr’s health. It’s not clear if the Steelers, at No. 21, can count on Aaron Rodgers at this point. Do they enter the mix? Is it necessary to trade over either or both teams to land a signal-caller?
Jeremiah didn’t project a range with Sanders but said he believes the conversation on Dart starts at about No. 20 overall. The first round (and early second) might end up with more interesting QB maneuvering than we imagined a few months ago.”
Interestingly enough, the game of chicken is likely going on between the two teams because both teams need a quarterback and even if they pass on Sheduer Sanders or whatever quarterback they prefer at their respected picks, both teams may be interested in trading up back into the first round to take the quarterback they desire. The Browns have the first pick (33rd overall) in the second round and the Giants currently hold the second pick (34th overall).
Meanwhile, the Giants are heavily connected to both wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter and edge rusher Abdul Carter, but with the Browns pick being unclear, the Giants will likely have to wait until Thursday night to find out what direction the Browns are going.
The Giants are also keeping things very mysterious. General manager Joe Schoen has been adamant that picking a quarterback in this draft is not mandatory following the offseason signings both Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston. However, whether they are still exploring the possibility of the quarterbacks available or they did it for smokescreen reasons, the Giants hosted three prospects for private workouts last week.
The question marks at picks two and three are certainly having other teams picking in the top 10 doing extensive work on their planned scenarios ahead of the draft. Luckily, for the Giants, they really only have to plan for two scenarios to plan out their selection at third overall. Of course, that is assuming nobody calls with a trade offer Schoen can not pass up.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: NFL insider: Giants, Browns playing a ‘game of chicken’
