Arizona Cardinals News & Rumors

Two weekends of playoff football have come and gone, providing us with 10 more draft slots cemented into position as NFL teams continue to be eliminated from the playoffs. The top 18 picks were already divvied up at the conclusion of the regular season to the teams who failed to make the playoffs, while picks 19-28 have been determined over the past two weeks.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order has been determined by the inverted 2024 standings plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. The playoff squads are being slotted by their postseason outcome and the reverse order of their regular-season record.

The league’s Super Wild Card weekend resulted in the elimination of Chargers, Steelers, Broncos, Packers, Buccaneers, and Vikings after their respective losses. Tampa Bay benefitted from the three-way tie in record with Denver and Pittsburgh, just as the Chargers did over the Packers.

The divisional round of the playoffs resulted in the elimination of the Texans, Rams, Ravens, and Lions. This time, Houston held the tiebreaker over Los Angeles, gifting it higher draft priority.

We are still at a place that, 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.

Here is how the draft order looks following two weeks of playoff football:

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. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7)
20. Denver Broncos (10-7)
21. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7)
22. Los Angeles Chargers (11-6)
23. Green Bay Packers (11-6)
24. Minnesota Vikings (14-3)
25. Houston Texans (10-7)
26. Los Angeles Rams (10-7)
27. Baltimore Ravens (12-5)
28. Detroit Lions (15-2)
29. Washington Commanders (12-5)
30. Buffalo Bills (13-4)
31. Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
32. Kansas City Chiefs (15-2)

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.