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Updated 2025 NFL Draft Order

January 5th, 2025 at 10:58pm CST by Adam La Rose

Once again, we saw plenty of change occur in the projected draft order after Sunday’s games. Most notably, the Patriots took themselves out of the top overall draft slot with a win over the resting Bills. While this change likely won’t hurt their ability to select one of the players that interested them most, as they likely weren’t looking to select a quarterback with rookie Drake Maye in place, New England likely could’ve benefitted from collecting some serious draft capital trading out of the top spot to any of the teams seeking quarterback help next season.

One of those quarterback-needy teams, the Titans have officially secured the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, tying for the worst overall record in the league with the Browns and Giants but holding tiebreakers over both franchises. The Browns and Giants, who both secured the second and third overall picks, respectively, today, are also considered top candidates to draft a passer.

With all three teams at the top of the draft interested in adding help at quarterback, the draft’s top two prospects at the position, Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, saw their chances at getting selected No. 1 overall rise dramatically. Plenty could still occur to change this situation; trades could alter the draft order, and further pre-draft evaluations could change opinions on top prospects.

Still, for the first time since the league expanded to 32 teams in 2002, there is a chance that every team drafts in the first round, as no first-round picks have yet been traded. It’s extremely unlikely that this will remain the case, as draft-day trades are a very common occurrence, but it’s still an interesting concept to note this close to the draft.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order will be determined by the inverted 2024 standings — plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule — with playoff squads being slotted by their postseason outcome and regular-season record. Here is how the draft order looks at the regular season’s conclusion:

  1. Tennessee Titans (3-14)
  2. Cleveland Browns (3-14)
  3. New York Giants (3-14)
  4. New England Patriots (4-13)
  5. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-13)
  6. Las Vegas Raiders (4-13)
  7. New York Jets (5-12)
  8. Carolina Panthers (5-12)
  9. New Orleans Saints (5-12)
  10. Chicago Bears (5-12)
  11. San Francisco (6-11)
  12. Dallas Cowboys (7-10)
  13. Miami Dolphins (8-9)
  14. Indianapolis Colts (8-9)
  15. Atlanta Falcons (8-9)
  16. Arizona Cardinals (8-9)
  17. Cincinnati Bengals (9-8)
  18. Seattle Seahawks (10-7)
  19. Houston Texans (10-7)
  20. Denver Broncos (10-7)
  21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7)
  22. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7)
  23. Los Angeles Rams (10-7)
  24. Green Bay Packers (11-6)
  25. Los Angeles Chargers (11-6)
  26. Washington Commanders (12-5)
  27. Baltimore Ravens (12-5)
  28. Minnesota Vikings (14-3)
  29. Buffalo Bills (13-4)
  30. Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
  31. Kansas City Chiefs (15-2)
  32. Detroit Lions (15-2)

Ely Allen contributed to this post.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/4/25

January 4th, 2025 at 9:47pm CST by Ely Allen

The last minor moves and standard gameday elevations of the 2024 NFL regular season:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Ross’ new deal to the Texans’ 53-man roster is good through the 2025 season, as well. Ditto for Jones, signed to the active roster in New England today.

Sanders returned to practice this week, and his activation will allow him to close out his second Panthers season on the field rather than on the mend. His Carolina tenure has fallen well short of expectations and a release in the near future could be in the cards. Given the team’s backfield injuries, though, Sanders could handle a notable workload tomorrow while potentially auditioning for free agent suitors.

Gilman’s return will be welcomed by the Chargers’ defense. The 27-year-old has remained a full-time starter this season, his second straight handling first-team duties. Los Angeles is assured of a wild-card spot, but moving up to the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoff picture could be possible on Sunday. In any case, Gilman’s presence will be key for a Bolts defense which leads the league in points allowed per game (17.6).

Gardner’s campaign will come to an end after 15 games played. He fell short of a Pro Bowl nod for this first time in his young career, but the fourth pick of the 2022 draft remained a critical member of the team’s secondary when healthy. Gardner is eligible for an extension this offseason, and his financial future (which will include a fifth-year option decision in the spring) will be a key point of focus once New York’s head coach/general manager tandem is in place.

Cardinals Place James Conner On IR

January 1st, 2025 at 9:52pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Cardinals placed running back James Conner on injured reserve on Wednesday, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, sidelining him for Arizona’s regular season finale against the 49ers.

Conner has been dealing with a “lingering right knee injury” this season, according to Cardinals team reporter Darren Urban. The two-time Pro Bowler left the game in Week 6 and again in Week 17, though he did not miss a start in between. Conner will join two other Cardinals running backs – rookie Trey Benson and Emari Demercado – on injured reserve.

Arizona turned to Michael Carter after Conner went down in Week 17 and is set to do so again after promoting him from the practice squad to fill its vacant 53-man roster spot. Carter began his career as a Jets fourth-round pick in 2021 and arrived in Arizona via waivers last season. He recorded 70 yards on 13 carries last week and will be looking to repeat his efficiency as an audition for a 2025 roster spot, with the Cardinals or elsewhere.

The Cardinals signed Conner to a two-year extension at the beginning of December, so they do not want to risk further injury to their expected lead ballcarrier for 2025. He is under contract through the 2026 season, though he could be released for $8MM in cap savings after next season, per OverTheCap.

Conner will finish the 2024 season with a career-high 1,094 rushing yards, though his per-carry and per-game averages were lower than last season. His 414 receiving yards were his most as a Cardinals and the second-highest total of his career.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/31/24

December 31st, 2024 at 6:59pm CST by Ely Allen

The last minor NFL transactions of the 2024 calendar year:

Arizona Cardinals

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/31/24

December 31st, 2024 at 6:35pm CST by Ely Allen

New Year’s Eve practice squad transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

Cleveland Browns

Houston Texans

  • Signed: WR Jaxon Janke

Jacksonville Jaguars

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/30/24

December 30th, 2024 at 7:30pm CST by Ely Allen

Monday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Detroit Lions

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

By claiming Jones, the Cardinals reunite him with his brother, wide receiver Zay Jones, for the final week of the regular season.

The Ravens are looking to return their third tight end to the fold after Kolar broke his arm a month ago. When ready, he’ll be back to close out the regular season and prepare for the playoffs behind Baltimore’s other two strong tight ends.

The Jets will be finishing the season without their starting safety in Clark. Clark, who battled back from injury earlier this season, was placed on injured reserve for an undisclosed reason today.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/30/24

December 30th, 2024 at 6:33pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Activated from commissioners/suspended list: LB Markus Bailey

Indianapolis Colts

  • Released from practice squad injured list: DT Trysten Hill

Kansas City Chiefs

Updated 2025 NFL Draft Order

December 30th, 2024 at 10:39am CST by Adam La Rose

Plenty of changes took place regarding the projected draft order on Sunday. Most notably, the Giants’ first home win of the year took them out of the top spot and greatly lowered their chances of securing the No. 1 pick.

Instead, the Patriots are now in pole position to select first in April. New England already has Drake Maye in place, so adding another Day 1 passer would be out of the picture. With Travis Hunter being seen as the top overall prospect in the class, the Heisman winner could be a suitable target as a key figure in New England’s rebuilding process.

Meanwhile, a number of teams which could be in the market for a first-round passer are near the top of the order. That includes the Browns and Raiders, teams which each face uncertainty under center for 2025 despite already having a number of quarterbacks under contract beyond this season. Bringing in Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders would provide another short-term option for next year along with a potential long-term answer at the position. Plenty could still change in the order over Week 18, though, and the evaluation process of both of the top signal-callers in the class obviously has a long way to go.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order will be determined by the inverted 2024 standings — plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule — with playoff squads being slotted by their postseason outcome and regular-season record. Here is an updated look at the current draft order:

  1. New England Patriots (3-13)
  2. Tennessee Titans (3-13)
  3. Cleveland Browns (3-13)
  4. New York Giants (3-13)
  5. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-12)
  6. Carolina Panthers (4-12)
  7. New York Jets (4-12)
  8. Las Vegas Raiders (4-12)
  9. Chicago Bears (4-12)
  10. New Orleans Saints (5-11)
  11. San Francisco 49ers (6-9)
  12. Indianapolis Colts (7-9)
  13. Dallas Cowboys (7-9)
  14. Arizona Cardinals (7-9)
  15. Miami Dolphins (8-8)
  16. Cincinnati Bengals (8-8)
  17. Atlanta Falcons (8-8)
  18. Seattle Seahawks (9-7)
  19. Houston Texans (9-7)
  20. Denver Broncos (9-7)
  21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7)
  22. Los Angeles Chargers (10-6)
  23. Los Angeles Rams (10-6)
  24. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)
  25. Green Bay Packers (11-5)
  26. Washington Commanders (11-5)
  27. Baltimore Ravens (11-5)
  28. Philadelphia Eagles (13-3)
  29. Buffalo Bills (13-3)
  30. Detroit Lions (13-2)
  31. Minnesota Vikings (14-2)
  32. Kansas City Chiefs (15-1)

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/28/24

December 28th, 2024 at 8:03pm CST by Adam La Rose

Saturday’s minor moves, including gameday elevations for Week 17:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

It was already known Lamb would be out for the remainder of the year, but the same will now be true of Oruwariye. The latter made seven appearances in 2024, his debut Cowboys season. That included four starts and a defensive snap share of 62%, making him a notable contributor on a Dallas defense which has dealt with a number of injuries. Oruwariye, 28, is a pending free agent.

McCoy and Patrick suffered injuries during the Saints’ Week 16 loss, and today’s move confirms they will both miss the remainder of the season. New Orleans’ offensive line has been dealt a number of blows in 2024, and that will continue through the final two games of the season. McCoy appeared in just seven games this year, but plenty of term remains on his pact. Patrick, by contrast, is set to hit the open market this spring.

Whitehead returned to practice earlier this week, so it comes as no surprise he will be available to the Buccaneers tomorrow. He will be expected to reprise his role as a defensive starter as Tampa Bay looks to seal the NFC South over the final two games of the campaign. Bringing back Whitehead and Johnson will leave the team with two IR activations.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/26/24

December 26th, 2024 at 8:32pm CST by Adam La Rose

Thursday’s minor moves around the NFL:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Reverted to season-ending IR (practice window expired): CB Elijah Jones

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Detroit Lions

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Harris’ second season with the Browns saw him play a key role with 13 starts and a 59% snap share on defense. The 33-year-old remained consistent against the run (37 tackles) while chipping in as a pass rusher (1.5 sacks), but his campaign is now over as he deals with an elbow injury. One year remains on Harris’ contract, although none of his scheduled $1.26MM base salary is guaranteed.

Alexander joined the Lions late last month as part of the team’s bid to add healthy options at the linebacker spot. He made a pair of appearances with Detroit prior to today’s move, one which may not mark the end of his time with the team. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the Lions hope to be able to sign Alexander, 30, to their practice squad provided he clears waivers. Teams will be able to put in a claim until tomorrow afternoon, by which point he will become a free agent if no interested parties emerge.

Zuerlein has been on injured reserve since the end of October, spurring the Jets to turn to other kicking options. If the veteran is activated in the near future, he will be able to make a late-season return in 2024, his third campaign with the Jets. Failing that, New York will still have Anders Carlson and recent practice squad addition Greg Joseph in place at the position.

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