The week of the NFL Draft is filled with rumors and smoke signals as the teams at the top of the first round attempt to drive up the asking price for access to their selections. So, it’s important to take everything with a grain of salt, and that includes a Tuesday morning report from ESPN’s Peter Schrager, which indicates that multiple teams are attempting to trade up with the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants to get in range for Travis Hunter, Abdul Carter, and Ashton Jeanty.
.@PSchrags says there have been calls made to the both the Browns at No. 2 and the Giants at No. 3 with the intention to move up in the NFL draft.
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) April 22, 2025
Who could it be? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/oy4jFyRevr
Last year’s draft featured six quarterbacks in the first 12 selections of Round 1, but this year’s draft does not have that kind of firepower. Many, including NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, have called this draft a “starters, not stars draft.” Yet, there are still a few players who project as major difference makers at the next level, and teams are seemingly a little desperate to get into position to draft one of them.
Both the Browns and Giants, at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, are quarterback-needy franchises. As Schrager explains, all indications are that they’ll stick and pick Hunter and Carter. However, they could be enticed to trade back, amass a fortune of future picks, and grab their quarterback later in the first round when there aren’t potentially generational prospects like Hunter and Carter staring them in the face.
Carter is the best prospect to come out of Penn State since Saquon Barkley went No. 2 overall to the New York Giants in the 2018 NFL Draft. He’s even more highly regarded than Micah Parsons was in 2021 when Parsons was still an off-ball linebacker and not a full-time edge rusher. It’s clear that Carter will not go No. 1 overall as Courtney Brown did ahead of LaVar Arrington when Nittany Lions locked out the top 2 spots in the 2000 NFL Draft. Tennessee is zeroed in on Miami quarterback Cam Ward, but if Cleveland, which is infatuated with Hunter’s two-way ability, moves off No. 2, Carter could be back in the mix to match Barkley’s draft slot.
There are plenty of surefire starters in the 2025 NFL Draft, especially at edge rusher, but Carter is the only clear-cut star, and, no surprise, a future star edge rusher is proving to be a hot commodity the week of the NFL Draft.