The Tennessee Titans were rewarded for their atrocious 2024 regular season by receiving the number one overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. With that pick, the Titans selected Miami's Cam Ward, who will be the starting quarterback and hopefully the face of the franchise for the next decade plus.
One team that was clearly interested in moving up to the top spot to snag Ward was the New York Giants. Joe Schoen, the general manager of the Giants, was all-in on trying to move into the top spot even as late as minutes before the first pick was announced.
Yes, that's right -- Schoen called the Titans when they were on the clock knowing they were going to take Ward but tried his luck anyway. He tried to play it off like he was kidding but why make the call if you're not totally serious about trading?
Giants tried one last time to trade up for Cam Ward but Titans held their ground
In a recently released video, Schoen is seen calling Titans GM Mike Borgonzi and laughing as he tries to sublty ask if the number one pick is still up for discussion. Schoen jokes, "I had to do it, I had to do it," and then throws in "Thought I'd give one more swing".
The Titans had made it clear that they weren't moving out of the top spot and them taking Ward with that pick was the worst kept secret. This is typically how the draft works, as the number one pick is usually pretty obvious and this year was no exception. The Titans had a shot at landing the best quarterback in the draft and they didn't hesitate to make Ward their first overall selection.
The Giants were the only other team to take a quarterback in the first round, trading back into the first round to nab Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss with the 25th pick. New York had previously selected Abdul Carter two picks after Ward went off the board.
Schoen can pretend he was laughing this off as much as he wants but he wouldn't have made the call if he didn't have a sliver of hope that Tennessee would reconsider and trade the pick to the Giants. With another team wanting Ward so badly, let's hope he ends up being the incredible quarterback both the Titans and Giants think he'll be.