Getty Image / Maddie Meyer
The 2024 NFL Draft is now just three days away, and it still feels pretty unpredictable after USC quarterback Caleb Williams goes first overall to the Chicago Bears.
It could get even crazier if the New England Patriots decide to trade their third-overall pick to accumulate assets for their massive rebuild. According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, talk is heating up that the Patriots may actually make that move.
The New England Patriots are listening and taking calls from teams looking to move into 3.
While GM Eliot Wolf is running point, I’m told Patriots’ President Jonathan Kraft is heavily involved in the decision making.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) April 22, 2024
If they were to do the trade, they would almost certainly be doing it with a team who intends to trade up and take a quarterback. But, the tricky part is that the Bears and Commanders will also be taking a quarterback.
The Bears are going to take Caleb Williams. But, unless something definitive leaks out before Thursday evening, the Commanders could take either UNC’s Drake Maye, LSU’s Jayden Daniels, or Michigan’s JJ McCarthy. I think most believe it will be Daniels, but a team is unlikely to pull the trigger on the trade for the Patriots’ pick until they know who exactly will be there at that pick.
That being said, here are a few teams who could be looking to move up into that third-overall slot.
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a prime candidate for a trade-up.
Kirk Cousins is gone, and is now in Atlanta. But, the rest of the Minnesota Vikings roster is good enough to make a run in a weak NFC. That includes the weapons on offense, as Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and TJ Hockensen are one of the best pass-catching trios in the league.
The offensive line is decent as well, and it’s a good situation for a rookie quarterback to come into. Plus, they have two first-rounders this year, picks 11 and 23, which is a lot of ammunition to move up. It will take more than those two picks, but it’s a good start.
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos need to figure out their quarterback situation. They’ve been in the wilderness at the position since Peyton Manning retired following the 2015 season. The Russell Wilson experiment worked out about as bad as it could have, and the team is starting over at the position. Right now, Jarrett Stidham and newly-acquired. Zach Wilson are atop the depth chart.
The good news is that most of the draft capital exchanged in that Russell Wilson trade has already come and gone. They don’t have a second-rounder this year, but they’re more-or-less intact after that. And, Head Coach Sean Payton, General Manager George Paton, and a relatively new ownership group are hungry for a face of the franchise.
Personally, I would not make this move if I were Denver. It’s going to cost a ton of draft capital to move up from 12 to 3, and they don’t have an extra first-rounder like the Vikings do. The roster has too many holes, and I’d be concerned they make the same mistake the Panthers did by trading up for Bryce Young. Yes, the Panthers got their quarterback, but the roster isn’t good enough around him and don’t have enough draft capital to really upgrade it. The Broncos could easily find themselves in that same situation.
New York Giants
Speaking of teams who are desperate for a solution at quarterback, the New York Giants could also be looking to trade up from their sixth-overall pick to third. And, this move could make a lot of sense for the G-Men.
Their roster isn’t exactly loaded, but it’s not as dire as, say, Denver’s, either. Yes, 2023, especially the start of the season, was disastrous for the Giants, but they did make the playoffs in 2022. Philadelphia and Dallas are about to have to pay some younger stars and lose a lot of their roster depth, and the Giants could be the team to beat in the NFC East as early as the 2025 season.
Of course, they’d need to find an answer at quarterback for that to happen. The Daniel Jones extension was ill-advised, but pretty much all of his guaranteed money comes off the books after this season. They’ve been linked to Drake Maye and JJ McCarthy the most.
The cost of moving up from 6 to 3 won’t be as steep as it would be for teams picking a little later in the first round, which could be attractive to General Manager Joe Schoen.
That being said, they have an equally glaring hole at wide receiver, and there are three phenomenal wide receiver prospects in Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr, LSU’s Malik Nabers, and Washington’s Rome Odunze. The scuttlebutt is that the Giants are interested in moving up, but won’t overpay, as they’re content with grabbing one of those three pass-catchers and kicking the can down the road at quarterback.
The NFL Draft gets underway in Detroit at 8PM ET on Thursday, April 25.