Cardinals Acquire No. 10 Pick From Raiders
The Raiders are trading out of the top-10. Darin Gantt of ProFootballTalk.com reports (via Twitter) that Oakland is trading the No. 10 pick. The selection is headed to the Cardinals, who will be sending Oakland the No. 15 pick, a third-rounder (No. 79), and a fifth-rounder (No. 152), according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic (via Twitter).
The Cardinals have used the selection on quarterback Josh Rosen, making that four signal-callers taken within the first 10 picks. The UCLA product had a bounce-back season in 2017, connecting on 62.6-percent of his passes for 3,756 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. We had heard earlier this week that the Cardinals were considering trading up in pursuit of a top quarterback.
The rookie will have plenty of competition for playing time, as the Cardinals have acquired both Sam Bradford and Mike Glennon this offseason. The team is also rostering Brandon Doughty and Alek Torgersen, who could end up being roster casualties.
The Raiders were already armed with a number of late-round picks, including seven selections in the final three rounds. The new acquisitions will give them 13 total picks throughout the weekend.
Bills Acquire No. 7 Pick From Buccaneers
We have our first trade of the night. The Bills have acquired the No. 7 pick from the Buccaneers, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). In return, Tampa Bay will receive the Bills No. 12 pick, a pair of second-rounders (No. 53 and No. 56), and No. 255 (seventh-round).
The Bills will use their newly-acquired pick on quarterback Josh Allen. The Wyoming product was among the top signal-callers available in the draft, and he had been connected to several teams in the top-10 (including the Broncos, who instead opted for Bradley Chubb). Allen had another solid campaign in 2017, completing 56.3-percent of his passes for 1,812 yards, 16 touchdowns, and six interceptions. Allen will have to compete with A.J. McCarron, who signed a two-year deal with the Bills earlier this offseason, for the starting gig. The Bills are also rostering Nathan Peterman.
We heard moments ago that Buffalo was unwilling to sacrifice a pair of first-round picks in order to move up. Ultimately, it sounds like general manager Brandon Beane got his wish. The Bills had been connected to a number of early selections, including the first-round picks owned by the Browns (No. 4), Broncos (No. 5), and Colts (No. 6). With those teams ultimately holding on to their picks, Buffalo shifted their focus to Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers headed into the night with only a pair of picks in the first three rounds. Thanks to the trade, they’ll now have four picks in that span, including three second-rounders (No. 38, No. 53, and No. 56).
Browns Select Baker Mayfield No. 1 Overall
The Browns have a new franchise quarterback, as Cleveland has selected Oklahoma signal-caller Baker Mayfield with the first overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
At various points in the pre-draft process, the Browns had reportedly been eyeing other quarterbacks, such as USC’s Sam Darnold and Wyoming’s Josh Allen. Instead, they’ve gone with a former Heisman Trophy winner in Mayfield in an effort to solidify their quarterback position for years to come.
Cleveland, of course, has been trying and failing to land a long-term passer for some time, and notably passed on prospects such as Carson Wentz and Deshaun Watson in recent drafts. With a new general manager in place, and the first and fourth overall picks at their disposal, the Browns always seemed likely to use a top selection on a quarterback.
Mayfield, a former walk-on at both Texas Tech and Oklahoma, is a favorite of many in the analytic community, and posted at 3,700 yards and 35 touchdowns in each of his three campaigns for the Sooners. An excellent passer from the pocket, Mayfield stands at just over six feet tall.
The Browns acquired Tyrod Taylor from the Bills earlier this offseason, and also signed veteran backup Drew Stanton, so Mayfield isn’t expected to begin the 2018 season as the club’s starter. Cleveland has pledged to bring its next quarterback along slowly, but Mayfield could conceivably see the field as the year progresses.
As the first overall pick, Mayfield will sign a four-year, fully guaranteed contract that comes with a fifth-year option for the 2022 seasons. Mayfield’s deal should be worth nearly $33MM, per Over the Cap, including a $22MM signing bonus and a 2018 cap charge of roughly $5.9MM.
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 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.
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.
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.
Latest On Cowboys, Earl Thomas
The Cowboys have long been connected with Earl Thomas, but they’re not about to sell out to land the Seahawks safety. A trade for Thomas is not a draft priority for Dallas, a source tells veteran NFL reporter Ed Werder (on Twitter). However, they remain interested in him as a player and they are willing to engage in trade talks if Seattle lowers its asking price. 
In March, it was reported that the Seahawks were asking teams for a first-round pick and a third-round pick to part ways with the six-time Pro Bowler. Seahawks GM John Schneider recently went on the record to say that he expects Thomas to be a part of the team in 2018, but his contractual situation complicates things. Thomas is entering the final year of his four-year, $40MM accord and is pushing for an extension. The safety was absent from the start of Seattle’s offseason program and he has threatened to hold out if he does not get a new deal before the start of the season.
The Seahawks parted ways with stars Michael Bennett and Richard Sherman this offseason, so they are clearly not opposed to trading established veterans. The Cowboys, meanwhile, will have a spot for Thomas if they follow through on their plan to move Byron Jones from safety to cornerback. For a deal to go down, however, Seattle will have to meet Dallas somewhere in the middle.
Dez Bryant Rejects Offer From Ravens
Former Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant turned down a multi-year offer from the Ravens, according to veteran NFL reporter Ed Werder (on Twitter). Bryant is seeking a significant one-year deal that will allow him to secure a lucrative long-term contract as an unrestricted free agent next year. 
It’s not clear if the Ravens are still pursuing Bryant, but it would be surprising if their offer was still on the table after the signing of restricted free agent Willie Snead was finalized earlier this week. Baltimore now boasts a wide receiver group that is headlined by three newcomers in Michael Crabtree, John Brown, and Snead and as well as Chris Moore and former first-round pick Breshad Perriman, so it’s hard to see how there could be enough targets for everyone to share.
The Ravens wanted to lock Bryant down for multiple seasons, but other Bryant suitors will likely be willing to do a one-year deal. Bryant was once amongst the league’s very best wide receivers, but there are tons of question marks about his ability after he posted just 838 yards off of 69 catches in 2017. A one-year deal would also help to ensure that Bryant is exceptionally motivated as he chases another high-paying contract.
Earlier this month, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter identified the Cardinals, Bills, and Packers as potential fits, along with the Ravens. So far, the Ravens have been the only team concretely connected to Bryant. Ideally, Bryant says that he would like to sign with an NFC East team in order to exact revenge on Dallas twice in 2018. On paper, the Giants would make the most sense of any team in the division, but they have yet to express interest in him, even after releasing Brandon Marshall. Meanwhile, we’ve heard nothing connecting the Eagles to the wide receiver and the Redskins do not have him on their radar.