With Matthew Stafford choosing to stay with the L.A. Rams instead of accepting a trade to the Las Vegas Raiders or New York Giants, the Tennessee Titans have a lot of leverage at the top of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Several prominent draft analysts have pointed out the buzz around a potential trade brewing between the Titans and Giants centered around the top choice in the draft, and ESPN's Jordan Reid showed what that could look like in his latest mock draft.
Reid explains the scenario like this, "With Matthew Stafford agreeing to return to the Rams, the Giants' 2025 quarterback options seem to be down to Aaron Rodgers or drafting a quarterback of the future. We're projecting the latter here, with New York sending its first-rounder (No. 3) and second-rounder (No. 34) in this draft and its third-round pick in 2026 to the Titans to have their choice between Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders."
It should be noted that signing Rodgers is possible for the Giants, but there has been no indication that signing a 41-year-old quarterback would deter them from trading up to draft a signal caller.
This would be a steal for the Giants in terms of draft compensation, and it should take more than Day Two compensation to get a deal done to move up.
Putting all that aside, who does Reid think the Titans could walk away with in the first two rounds of the draft? Reid has them landing EDGE Abdul Carter from Penn State, wide receiver Luther Burden III from Missouri, and interior offensive lineman Grey Zabel from North Dakota State.
With free agency rapidly approaching, we're about to get a much better idea of how many holes the Titans will need to fill via the draft. Right now, there are roughly 11 positions the Titans need to focus on this offseason, ranging from starting quarterback to defensive tackle depth.
These three selections would address two high-priority needs and one mid-level need for the Titans, which is as much as you could hope for. You could argue that the Titans should have addressed right tackle with one of those second-round picks in Reid's mock, but the front office has made it clear that they plan to address the offensive line in free agency.
There is still a lot to figure out, but if the Titans decide that they aren't in love with any of the quarterbacks at the top of the draft, this is the bare minimum compensation fans can expect in return for the first overall pick. Despite that, this mock draft shows how even a minimal return could pay big dividends if the team decides they are out on Cam Ward.