10 teams with most at stake in draft
Not every NFL team has made the same buy-in for this year’s draft.
Several franchises have opted against waiting until the end of April to cash in on their chips, instead flipping their picks to acquire big-ticket veteran quarterbacks and receivers in trades. That divergence has created an imbalance in draft capital, as eight teams are without first-round picks this year while another eight own two.
It’s only natural, then, that this draft will have heavier consequences for some general managers and coaches than others. And while each franchise would like to serve its long-term interests while addressing immediate needs, some will have to balance the two considerations in draft deliberations.
With that in mind, here are the 10 teams with the most at stake in this year’s NFL draft:
h 1. Green Bay Packers: The return of Aaron Rodgers combined with the trade of Davante Adams created a unique dilemma. No team with a comparable win-now mandate enters the draft with as big of a positional problem as the Packers face at wide receiver.
Adams alone accounted for more than one-third of Green Bay’s receiving yards (1,553 of 4,526), and the departure of Marquez Valdes-scantling, who signed with the Chiefs, left the offense without a natural successor for a No. 1 target with whom Rodgers has an established rapport. It should pretty much be a lock, then, that general manager Brian Gutekunst will end the Packers’ nearly two-decade first-round receiver drought by using at least one of his two Day 1 choices on a pass catcher.
h 2. Carolina Panthers: Many teams earned placement on this list thanks to their wealth of draft capital. Carolina, by contrast, lands here due to the team’s shortage of it. The Panthers pick at No. 6 and then not again until No. 137, late in the fourth round.
That’s not an enviable spot for a franchise needing to upgrade at quarterback and left tackle, the two positions to which general manager Scott Fitterer acknowledged the team had narrowed its first-round focus. The most economical
option, then, might be to trade back and add Day 2 ammo. Good luck, however, finding a partner.
h 3. New York Jets: What do you get the team that needs almost everything? That’s the question for general manager Joe Douglas, who has second-year quarterback Zach Wilson in place but few other foundational pieces.
Fortunately, with two picks in the top 10 and four in the first 38, Gang Green will have ample opportunity to infuse young talent at several key areas.
h 4. New York Giants: Leaving behind the No. 7 overall pick this year as part of last spring’s trade with the Chicago Bears was about the only favor that Dave Gettleman did for the G-men’s new regime, as coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen are saddled with a cap-strapped group still lugging around a good deal of dead weight.
To get off on the right foot, Schoen must set right several of Gettleman’s wrongs. Most notably, that entails repairing the offensive front, an effort that began in free agency but will remain incomplete until a cornerstone offensive tackle is added – and it wouldn’t hurt to upgrade at left guard or center, either.
h 5. Detroit Lions: The stakes of this draft are not lost on coach Dan Campbell
and general manager Brad Holmes, the latter of whom said his team was on the hunt for a “game-changer” with the No. 2 overall pick. Identifying that player might be the most crucial task for the duo, but the franchise will also be under pressure to make the first of its two firstround selections from the Matthew Stafford trade pay off.
h 6. Kansas City Chiefs: In a spring in which the rest of the AFC West engineered bold signings or trades, the Chiefs instead took a long-term view and opted to retool by sending All-pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins for a pick package that included first-, second and fourth-round selections this year.
Now equipped with two picks at the end of the first round and four of the top 62 selections, coach Andy Reid and GM Brett Veach have to replenish an outfit in danger of losing its six-year stranglehold on the division. The Chiefs certainly have the means to move up the order, and perhaps the motivation is there as well given Veach’s history of aggressive deals involving the draft.
h 7. New Orleans Saints: One of the themes of this offseason has been aspiring contenders trading out of the first day of this year’s draft in an effort to pick up veteran help. One outlier: New Orleans, which parted with 2023’s firstrounder to position itself with two choices in the top 20.
After making a serious run at Deshaun Watson, the Saints could have an eye toward Malik Willis or Kenny Pickett if either signal-caller is within striking range. But a franchise that has staved off a rebuild for years might look to bolster its playoff chances in the weakened NFC by adding two immediate starters.
h 8. Seattle Seahawks: With the franchise’s poor drafting finally proving to be insurmountable, a Seahawks team coming off its first losing campaign in 10 years is staring down an imposing rebuild – even if the current regime won’t acknowledge it.
That effort might not hit high gear until next offseason, when Seattle will have multiple first-round picks thanks to the Russell Wilson trade and could be poised to make a big swing for one of the top quarterbacks.
h 9. Jacksonville Jaguars: An overly aggressive free-agency spending spree reinforced what was already readily evident: This roster is in serious disrepair.
That freewheeling approach might highlight that patience is at a premium, especially after Jacksonville squandered its first year of Trevor Lawrence’s rookie contract on the Urban Meyer fiasco.
Taking Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson with the No. 1 overall pick would be the widely expected and perhaps most sensible move for a franchise in need of reliable contributors and locker-room leaders, but could general manager Trent Baalke throw everyone for a loop by instead grabbing Georgia defensive end Travon Walker?
h 10. Philadelphia Eagles: The pressure has eased considerably since Philadelphia essentially swapped one of its three first-round picks for an additional Day 1 choice in 2023 via a trade with the Saints. Still, the Eagles are one of five teams with two selections in the top 20 and own five of the top 101 picks.
Regardless of whether Jalen Hurts entrenches himself as the starter or the team sets the table to acquire an alternative next year, elevating this team from the middle of the NFC will require more young, low-cost talent.