Giants Could Still Trade No. 2 Pick
A trade of the No. 2 pick is still a possibility for the Giants, sources tell Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com (on Twitter). If they keep the No. 2 pick, Penn State running back Saquon Barkley and NC State defensive end Bradley Chubb are viewed as the favorites to be selected. However, the potential presence of USC’s Sam Darnold could change things.
The Giants – and those around the Giants – would have better clarity on their plans if they knew what the Browns were planning to do with the No. 1 overall pick. The Browns have left everyone around the NFL guessing and no one knows for sure if they’ll go with Darnold, Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, or perhaps even Wyoming’s Josh Allen. At this point, the entire world might find out the identity of the top pick together when commissioner Roger Goodell takes the podium tonight.
On paper, selecting Sam Darnold as Eli Manning’s successor would be a huge win for the G-Men, but they are reportedly less than enamored with this year’s QB crop. If the Giants are willing to pass up a chance to select Barkley or Chubb, they could net a tremendous haul to swap places with a team dead set on landing a QB.
2018 NFL Draft Primer
After weeks of anticipation – or months, if your favorite team was eliminated early from playoff contention – the 2018 NFL draft finally gets underway tonight in Dallas. Pro Football Rumors will have you covered for the entire three-day event, passing along all 256 picks, along with all the trades, news, and rumors that come along with the draft.
While ESPN and NFL Network reporters typically don’t scoop teams’ draft picks before they’re announced on the TV broadcast, writers from other outlets have been known to report picks a few minutes before they’re officially announced. If and when that happens this year, we won’t be “spoiling” picks ahead of time on our social media accounts, so if you want to be kept in suspense until commissioner Roger Goodell makes his announcements, you’re safe to follow us on Twitter or Facebook without having to worry that those surprises will be ruined.
However, if a trusted reporter does get word of a pick before it happens, we’ll be passing it along on our site. So if teams’ picks are being reported ahead of time, and you want to know them immediately rather than waiting for an announcement from Goodell, be sure to refresh ProFootballRumors.com early and often tonight. Our post recapping the first-round results will be updated with teams’ picks as soon as they’re reported, even if that happens before they’re formally announced on ESPN.
With that in mind, here’s some info to get you prepared for the 2018 draft:
- The schedule for this year’s draft is as follows:
- Day 1 (Thursday): Round 1, 8pm ET/7pm CT
- Day 2 (Friday): Rounds 2-3, 7pm ET/6pm CT
- Day 3 (Saturday) Rounds 4-7, 12pm ET/11am CT
- Want to find this year’s full draft order? We’ve got every single selection selection listed here.
- Here’s a rundown of draft capital, by team. The Packers lead the way with 12 picks.
- We also took a closer look at how exactly this year’s traded picks changed hands, and how 2018’s compensatory picks were assigned.
- All of our posts discussing news and rumors related to the 2018 draft can be found on this page, though given how much the draft has dominated the NFL news cycle lately, it doesn’t look much different from our main page at this point.
Jets Coaches Making Push For Josh Allen
Jets coaches are making a late push for the team to draft quarterback Josh Allen, Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (on Twitter) hears. Thus far, there hasn’t been a lot of talk connecting the Jets to the Wyoming product, so this would represent a change of thinking in Jets headquarters.
Sitting at No. 3, the Jets have been preparing themselves for a decision between Baker Mayfield and Josh Rosen. However, growing buzz about the Browns selecting Mayfield at No. 1 has thrown a wrench in those plans. If Mayfield is off the board, the Jets will have the once unexpected opportunity to select Sam Darnold at No. 3, but it sounds like Jets coaches may prefer the arm strength of Allen.
The Jets were believed to be the team that did the most work on Allen last season, being the only team to trek to Laramie, Wyo., to work out the 6-foot-5 quarterback. But as of late, they’ve been linked most to Mayfield and Rosen. Reported concerns about Allen’s accuracy issues have attached themselves to the Wyoming-honed passer, but with Mayfield possibly set to finish off a major pre-draft rise, Allen going to the Jets at No. 3 wouldn’t qualify as an earth-shattering surprise.
This comes after some tweets from Allen’s high school days paint the passer in a bad light, but it doesn’t sound like some of the teams with QB needs are going to hold that against him.
Darnold has long been a Jets target, but the organization apparently did not believe the USC passer would fall to No. 3. The signals that such a drop could occur caused the Jets to schedule more face-to-face time with Darnold, so him being there and the team still going with Allen would be a notable event.
Panthers Won’t Trade Future First Rounder
In his first run as the Panthers’ GM, Marty Hurney made a habit of trading future first-round picks in order to move up the board. In this year’ s draft, he vows that there won’t be a repeat. 
[RELATED: Panthers Sign Greg Olsen To Extension]
“I can tell you right now that you can consider next year’s first-round pick safe,” Hurney told David Mayo of The Associated Press. “… We will probably be getting calls, so if you can just tweet that out.”
In 2008, Hurney traded away the team’s 2009 first-round choice to select offensive tackle Jeff Otah with the No. 19 pick. Then, in 2009, he traded the team’s 2010 first-round selection to get defensive end Everette Brown in the second round. Neither move paid dividends for Carolina, which might explain the change in his philosophy.
“You step back and look at some of the things you have done,” Hurney said. “You look at what you did and what you can do better. You also look at what you did well.”
The Panthers own four picks in the first three rounds this year: the No. 24 overall pick, their original second round pick (No. 55 overall), a third round pick from the Bills acquired in the Kelvin Benjamin trade (No. 85), and their original third round pick (No. 88).
Panthers Sign Greg Olsen To Extension
Panthers tight end Greg Olsen has landed a new contract. The veteran is signing a two-year extension worth $17.1MM that could be worth as much as $20.1MM, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. If Olsen nails his incentives, he’ll edge Jimmy Graham as the league’s highest-paid player at the position. 
Olsen flirted with the idea of transitioning into TV this offseason and even auditioned for ESPN’s vacant color commentary role on Monday Night Football. His new and improved contract will keep him out of the broadcast booth, at least for now.
“My preference would be to know my future here in Carolina past this year, if I’m being honest. Whether or not that happens, we’ll see,” Olsen said earlier this month. “But that would be the ideal situation and then that would answer a lot of these unknown questions.”
Olsen has some questions of his own to answer after injuries slowed him in 2017. Olsen reeled off three straight 1,000-yard seasons from 2014-16 and pushed hard for a new contract before last season. In 2017, he was limited to just seven games and he totaled less than 200 yards receiving.
The Panthers retooled their receiving group a bit this year by adding Torrey Smith and Jarius Wright. Still, Olsen projects to serve as one of Cam Newton‘s favorite targets once again in 2018.
Jaguars Bid To Buy London Stadium
Jaguars owner Shad Khan has entered a bid of nearly $700MM to purchase London’s Wembley Stadium, according to the Evening Standard. In a statement, Khan confirmed his efforts to purchase the historic soccer venue while reaffirming his commitment to the city of Jacksonville. 
“Today’s news changes none of what we envision for the long-term promise for the Jaguars here in Jax, and it changes nothing as to the goals we have for your downtown,” Khan said. ” If anything, today’s news is the embodiment of the ethos we adopted several years ago of being proud, bold and committed.”
The Jaguars have a deal in place to play at Wembley stadium through the 2020 season and today’s news will only increase speculation that Khan is eyeing a move to England. Many view London as a high-potential untapped market that could draw major dollars for an NFL franchise and the Jaguars have build a following there by playing multiple games on the other side of the pond. Still, Khan insists that the plan to purchase Wembley Stadium is not the first step towards relocation.
“If my ownership interests were to include Wembley Stadium, it would protect the Jaguars’ position in London at a time when other NFL teams are understandably becoming more interested in this great city,” Khan said. “And the stronger the Jaguars are in London, the more stable and promising the Jaguars’ future will be in Jacksonville.”
The timing of the leak is curious and one can’t help but wonder if Khan purposely wanted the news to be buried under the frenzy of tonight’s NFL Draft. But, taken at face value, the acquisition will not impact the Jaguars’ future in Jacksonville.
Saints Looking To Trade Up In NFL Draft
The Saints have “made plenty of calls about making a big leap up” from their No. 27 pick, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. It’s not clear who the Saints are targeting, however. 
Rapoport wonders aloud if the Saints might be doing due diligence in case a certain player, perhaps a quarterback, falls on draft night. Usually, an aggressive move up the board is done to secure a QB, so the Saints could be eyeing one of this year’s top QBs as a successor to Drew Brees. In any event, they’ll be well-prepared to move up if their desired target slides.
The Saints don’t have a ton of ammo to make a trade since they sent this year’s second-round choice to the 49ers last year in order to select running back Alvin Kamara. The Saints’ next pick doesn’t come until the third round (No. 91), so they may have to dip into next year’s draft in order to make an aggressive move.
Josh Allen Caught In Twitter Controversy
Two years ago, Ole Miss offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil slid down the draft board after a video of him smoking from a gas mask bong surfaced on Twitter. This year, it’s possible that another Twitter controversy could affect Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen. Multiple tweets from 2012 and 2013 have been unearthed in which Allen uses racially insensitive language, as detailed by Ryan Young of Yahoo Sports.
There’s also a questionable tweet from 2013 in which Allen responds to a question asked of him by AskFM. When asked “Why are you so white?,” Allen responds, “If it ain’t white, it ain’t right!” Allen has since told teams that the tweets in question were in reference to TV shows, movies, and songs.
Allen spoke with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith late Wednesday night to apologize for the tweets, saying that he was young and dumb. It remains to be seen how the tweets will affect Allen on draft night, but a team with a top-five draft pick told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that it knew nothing about the tweets and that it had “never heard anything but positives” about the QB.
Allen has been projected to go as high as No. 1 to the Browns in recent days and it was widely expected that he would be selected no later than No. 5. Now, everything appears to be in flux for the talented passer.
Buccaneers Re-Sign RB Charles Sims
The Buccaneers have agreed to re-sign running back Charles Sims, as Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. It’s a one-year deal for the veteran. 
Last summer, there were whispers that Sims would miss the Bucs’ final cut coming out of camp, even though starter Doug Martin was suspended for the start of the 2017 season. Sims stayed on the roster, but he did not see a ton of carries. Appearing in all 16 games, Sims totaled just 21 rushing attempts for 95 yards. He did add 35 catches for 249 yards and one score, however.
Given that Sims had less rushing yards than Jameis Winston – who isn’t exactly fleet-footed – he might not have a huge rule in store in 2018. Last year’s leading rusher, Peyton Barber, is back in the fold and so is Jacquizz Rodgers. The Bucs may also bolster the RB depth chart in this week’s draft.
Browns To Select Baker Mayfield No. 1?
With hours to go before the NFL Draft, the identity of the No. 1 pick remains unclear. There is increasing chatter from head coaches and GMs that the Browns will select Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. This comes after weeks of reports identifying USC’s Sam Darnold and Wyoming’s Josh Allen as the only real candidates for the selection. 
Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy in 2017 and led the Football Bowl Subdivision in completion rate by connecting on 70.5% of his throws. He also set a single-season record by averaging 11.5 yards per pass and threw for 43 touchdowns against six interceptions. Still, questions persist about his build and character. For his part, Browns GM John Dorsey has shrugged off questions about Mayfield’s height and his behavioral red flags.
Mayfield going No. 1 would be a surprise, but there is no real consensus on any of this year’s top quarterbacks. Darnold and Josh Rosen were long touted as the best QBs in this year’s crop, but both players are coming off of rocky seasons that potentially exposed their flaws. Allen, meanwhile, doesn’t have a great on-field track record to match the hype of his arm strength.
So far, Dorsey has kept the identity of the draft pick close to the vest. It’s possible that we won’t know the identity of the No. 1 overall pick until it is read by Roger Goodell on Thursday night, and that will make for some serious drama.