Ravens Exploring QB Contingencies?
Eight years ago, the Ravens hit the reset button, naming Eric DeCosta as only the second general manager during the team’s tenure in Baltimore and drafting a quarterback who would eventually take over for 10-year starter Joe Flacco. This offseason, the franchise named Jesse Minter as only the fourth head coach in Ravens history, and it seems a similar changing of the guard behind center was explored, as well, according to Jason La Canfora of Sports Illustrated.
Per La Canfora, an NFL general manager informed him that Baltimore was one of “two teams that quietly did the most work on quarterbacks who already have franchise quarterbacks.” While it’s natural to see that, after releasing backup Cooper Rush shortly into free agency, having only two quarterbacks on the roster makes adding, at the very least, some camp arms a priority. The Ravens did just that after the 2026 NFL Draft concluded, but La Canfora’s report refers more to the possibility that Baltimore could’ve used valuable draft capital in search of some possible contingencies should they not be able to reach an extension agreement with star passer Lamar Jackson.
Jackson has been the team’s starter since taking over halfway through his rookie year in 2018. Over that time, the former Heisman Trophy-winner has won two MVP awards, delivered three first-team All-Pro campaigns, and taken his team to the postseason in six of eight tries, reaching the AFC Championship just once. He currently ranks second in many of the franchise’s passing records (behind Flacco) while also ranking second in many of the franchise’s rushing records (behind Jamal Lewis).
Jackson is set to enter the 2026 NFL season on the second-to-last year of a five-year, $260MM extension the team signed him to in 2023. The process that landed him on the historic contract was a rocky one to say the least. A year after exercising the fifth-year option on Jackson’s rookie contract, the Ravens attempted to ink Jackson to an extended contract, but having just missed the last four games of the season and having notched a career-high 13 interceptions, the dual-threat passer turned them down, choosing to bet on himself under the belief that he could add value to any potential extension over another season of play.
Instead, Jackson’s 2022 campaign saw him miss the final five games of the year, complicating contract negotiations a bit. Unable to reach a consensus early into the offseason and with Jackson’s rookie deal coming to an end, the Ravens opted to place a non-exclusive franchise tag on their star quarterback, allowing outside teams to provide Jackson with contract offers knowing that the Ravens would have the ability to either match the offer or be compensated with draft capital if they allowed Jackson to walk. That stalemate ended — after some suspected league-wide collusion — when Jackson signed the five-year deal that is now threatening to end his time in Baltimore.
While the negotiations to keep him in purple and black this time around have not been so visibly contentious, it’s clear the two sides have been unable to come to a consensus. There’s been wide belief in recent weeks that, should the Ravens fail to ink Jackson to another long-term deal in the offseason, it may spell the end of the pair’s longtime union. La Canfora’s report seems to support that notion as it paints a picture of a Baltimore front office doubting its ability to secure Jackson for the future.
The Ravens’ moves post-draft have been those of a team employing camp arms for an offseason program that has, historically, not seen much of Jackson. At the moment, there are five arms in Charm City, consisting of Jackson, primary backup Tyler Huntley, veteran free agent addition Skylar Thompson, and undrafted rookies Diego Pavia and Joe Fagnano. None of the four currently in the room with Jackson pose much threat of giving the Ravens enough confidence to move on from Jackson, but had they succeeded in what La Canfora claims they were attempting to do in the draft, the story might have looked a bit different.
The other team the NFL GM mentioned above that did work on quarterbacks was the Eagles, who did end up drafting a solid passing prospect in North Dakota State’s Cole Payton in the fifth round. The assertion concerning Baltimore isn’t that they were looking to take a late-round flyer; instead, the GM source asserts the Ravens were doing their homework on the likes of Miami’s Carson Beck, Penn State’s Drew Allar, and Arkansas’s Taylen Green. These were late-Day 2, early-Day 3 considerations that ended up landing with teams in insecure quarterback situations where they have more than a slight chance to make an impact.
La Canfora’s GM and a second personnel executive source believe the Ravens were high on Green, whose rushing abilities most-resemble those of Jackson. The imposingly athletic passer ended up landing in Cleveland, where Jackson’s most recent offensive coordinator has just started his first tenure as an NFL head coach. Having failed to acquire any quarterbacks with much promise, the Ravens can simply brush these notions under the rug as they continue their efforts to convince Jackson to stay. If things had lined up differently, though, it seems there was a chance that DeCosta, Minter, and Co. could’ve used a draft pick on a quarterback contingency plan instead of furthering efforts to win now with the current roster makeup.
Cardinals View QB Jacoby Brissett As Starter; Contract Talks ‘Ongoing’
The Cardinals added veteran quarterback Gardner Minshew in free agency and drafted Carson Beck in the third round, but neither is expected to start Week 1. New head coach Mike LaFleur considers Jacoby Brissett the Cardinals’ No. 1 signal-caller, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN reports.
Brissett has been “made aware” that the Cardinals view him as their starter, according to Weinfuss. LaFleur said discussions between the team and Brissett, who is seeking a more lucrative contract, are “ongoing” (via team reporter Dani Sureck).
The Cardinals will have to get Brissett in the building before he can lead their quarterbacks room. The 33-year-old journeyman has stayed away from voluntary workouts in his quest for a raise. As of now, Brissett is entering the second season of the two-year, $12.5MM deal he signed as a free agent in March 2025. He has just $1.5MM in guarantees remaining, whereas Minshew has at least $5.14MM coming his way this year. Minshew is the Cardinals’ QB2 as of now, per Weinfuss, leaving Beck third on the depth chart as the former Georgia Bulldog and Miami Hurricane begins his NFL career.
Brissett, a former Patriot, Colt, Dolphin, Brown and Commander, originally joined the Cardinals to serve as a backup. However, thanks to Kyler Murray‘s season-ending foot injury, Brissett wound up making 12 starts. It was the fourth season of double-digit starts for the 10-year veteran, who completed 64.9% of passes, threw for 3,366 yards and tossed 23 touchdowns against eight interceptions. Brissett posted a respectable traditional passer rating of 94.1, which tied Chargers star Justin Herbert for 15th in the league, but his 41.2 QBR ranked a lackluster 24th among 28 qualifiers.
The Cardinals managed just one win with Brissett at the helm. They went 3-14 overall and secured the third pick, which they used to draft running back Jeremiyah Love. He should make life easier on Brissett, who also has an elite tight end, Trey McBride, and a strong wide receiver tandem of Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson in place.
The Cardinals will expect better from an offense that ranked 19th in yards and 23rd in scoring in 2025, but it is up in the air whether Brissett will last the entire year as their starter. If the team falls out of contention, it would not be a surprise to see LaFleur turn to Beck. Arizona spent a valuable pick (No. 65) on Beck, who will already turn 25 during his rookie year.
QB Jacoby Brissett Likely Trade Candidate With Carson Beck In Arizona?
After going 1-11 in 12 starts for the Cardinals in 2025, quarterback Jacoby Brissett has been staying away from team activities as he attempts to land a starter-level extension. According to NFL insider Jason La Canfora, though, Brissett will more likely end up being a trade candidate.
With Brissett in line for his second Cardinals season and a backup passer with starting experience in Gardner Minshew, many thought Arizona would spend the first year of new head coach Mike LaFleur tanking its way to as high a draft pick as possible in 2027 in an attempt to land the best of a better crop of quarterbacks than what was available this year. It was presumed that the Cardinals would utilize this year’s draft to bring in a number of strong supporting pieces to prop up their future rookie starter.
Instead, the team took an interestingly different route. When the Cards reportedly were unable to find an offer they deemed worthy of trading out of the No. 3 overall pick for, they opted to select RB1 Jeremiyah Love. They did get around to landing a plug-and-play starting guard at the top of the second round in Chase Bisontis, but with the first pick of the third round, the Cardinals shocked a number of analysts by drafting Miami quarterback Carson Beck, the third passer to come off the board in the 2026 draft class.
Though he heard his name called two rounds after first overall pick Fernando Mendoza, who beat him head-to-head in the College Football Playoff national championship game four months ago, Beck’s six years in college had some evaluators believing he was the most pro-ready passer in the class. Once Beck was wearing a red hat, an NFL general manager reportedly told La Canfora that Arizona would “move Brissett by the (trade) deadline.”
Even if Brissett isn’t traded away immediately, the theory seems clear. If this GM is correct, at some point, Beck would take over as the starter. As a third-round, pro-ready prospect with the top rookie running back and an improved offensive line, there’s a chance Beck could find success and show potential as the team’s future at the position. If such a hypothetical ends up being too far out of reach to become reality and Beck’s starting run leads them to a poor record and a high draft pick, then the Cardinals would be perfectly in line to draft a first-round quarterback in 2027.
Fueling that idea a bit further, recent whispers that veteran free agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers may be considering Arizona as a future home appear to be nothing more than rumors. ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss reached out to a source recently to gauge the reality of this possibility, and his source claimed it was “not at all” real. If Rodgers stays away and Brissett gets shipped out, Beck may end up starting as a rookie as the Cardinals make moves to find their QB for the future.
NFC Draft Rumors: Saints, Bain, Cowboys, Guarantees
On the eve of the 2026 NFL Draft, multiple reports came out asserting the Saints were a team to monitor for a potential draft day trade-up. Sitting already at No. 8 overall, rumors seemed to indicate that New Orleans could be looking to move up as far as the third pick in the draft, but general manager Mickey Loomis set things straight for the media (video via NewOrleans.Football) the next day.
Fully aware of the reports that had been made, Loomis told reporters, “Yeah, I never made one call to move up from pick 8.” After noting some surprise in the room, he continued, “I know it was reported by a couple of people, but that was completely untrue.”
The surprise was in part due to the existing reports of such interest, but it also stemmed from Loomis’ history of memorable moves up draft boards in years past. Dating back to his first draft with the Saints in 2003, Loomis has negotiated moves up for players like Johnathan Sullivan, Jammal Brown (2005), Sedrick Ellis (2008), Mark Ingram (2011), Brandin Cooks (2014), Stephone Anthony (2015), Marcus Davenport (2018), and Chris Olave (2022). Loomis did admit that the team was looking to make moves up on Day 2 of this year’s draft, but concerning the first round, he told reporters that the cost to move up would’ve been too high while knowing a player they really liked would fall to them at No. 8.
Here are a few other draft rumors coming out of the NFC:
- The Buccaneers were considered big winners on Day 1 of the draft after walking away with Miami defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. 15 picks into the first round. They had no clue that Bain would end up slipping just that far, but somehow, according to Greg Auman of FOX Sports, they were able to come away with a player that general manager Jason Licht told reporters was a top-five player on their board.
- The Cowboys ended up making a trade up one spot — from pick 12 to 11 — in order to ensure nobody would trade in front of them for Ohio State safety Caleb Downs. According to Jon Machota of The Athletic, they also attempted to make a move up to No. 9 overall in a deal that would’ve affected their second first-round pick, as well. Per Machota, Dallas offered Cleveland pick Nos. 12 and 20 with a fifth-rounder in exchange for Cleveland’s pick Nos. 9 and 24. The Browns were not interested. It’s unclear if Downs still would have been the target had the deal gone through. Machota also notes that, if the Cowboys hadn’t been able to move back from 20th to 23rd, they still would’ve taken UCF’s Malachi Lawrence. If Lawrence was gone by 23, though, then they would’ve pivoted to Georgia linebacker CJ Allen, who ended up going to the Colts at No. 53.
- In 2025, there was a holdout of second-round picks as players pushed for guaranteed money that hadn’t made it past the first round until only recently. There was — and still is — some anticipation about where that line might get drawn in this year’s draft, but a few team’s have moved quickly to draw the line at their own third-round picks. Last year, increased guarantees made it all the way through the second round with Eagles safety Andrew Mukuba being the latest pick to receive any. Even the first pick of the third round, Giants defensive tackle Darius Alexander, received only his signing bonus as guaranteed money. So far, only four third-rounders have signed deals this year, and Packers defensive tackle Chris McClellan is the earliest of the four. His deal’s only guaranteed money is his signing bonus. With Cardinals quarterback Carson Beck standing at the top of the third round, though, it will be interesting to see if there is any kind of push for guarantees to start making their way back into the third round.
Cardinals Take Miami QB Carson Beck To Open Third Round
The third quarterback comes off the board on Day 2 as the Cardinals have opened the third round by selecting Miami quarterback Carson Beck. Many believed Arizona would not be exiting the second day of the 2026 NFL Draft without a new passer, and the Hurricanes’ one-year rental has emerged as the team’s preferred option.
Over six years at the collegiate level (five at Georgia, one at Miami), Beck’s story was a rollercoaster. After redshirting as a true freshman in 2020, Beck watched new division rival Stetson Bennett IV win two national championships for the Bulldogs before he finally got his opportunity to start in 2023. Beck showed a ton of promise in his first year running the offense, going 13-1 while completing 72.4 percent of his passes for 3,941 yards, 24 touchdowns, and only six interceptions.
After being identified as a top prospect for the 2025 NFL Draft, Beck’s production took a step back in his second year as a starter. His accuracy became an issue as his completion percentage dropped significantly and his interception total doubled. Adding insult to injury, his time in Athens came to an end when he suffered a UCL injury in an SEC Championship victory, requiring surgery on his throwing elbow. After briefly considering sticking with the plan to head to the NFL, Beck opted instead to transfer to Miami. Aided by one of the country’s top offensive lines, Beck showed improved efficiency as he led the Hurricanes to a College Football Playoff National Championship Game of his own.
Beck and the Hurricanes fell just short of the pinnacle of the sport; their chances of glory disappeared in the waning moments of the fourth quarter with one final untimely interception. That final pick meant Beck’s season total would reach 12 for the second year in a row, but in 2025, eight of his interceptions came in only three games, as he bunched all of his mistakes into a few games and showed better consistency in a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde act in Coral Gables. And though his collegiate legacy will be that of a passer who always seemed to come up just short, his 37-6 record as a starter is not easy to ignore.
Beck heads to Arizona where an intriguing situation awaits him. Veteran journeyman Jacoby Brissett is back for 2026 after starting 12 games as an injury replacement for Kyler Murray. Despite his status as a career bridge quarterback, linking one era of passer to another, Brissett has been adamantly pushing for a “starter-level extension” with the Cardinals. Unfortunately for him, general manager Monti Ossenfort declined to name a starter, deciding to wait and “see how the room looks in August.” Brissett has been staying away from voluntary team activities, as a result, and if he continues to hold out, Beck should see plenty of snaps early.
Brissett is clearly the likely starter for Arizona in 2026, but leaving the door open at all for Beck to gain some ground and some chemistry next to fellow offensive rookie Jeremiyah Love could be a dangerous gamble. The Cardinals are taking a flyer in the hopes of striking oil here, but Beck, a humble, experienced leader, could easily continue to develop into a starter at the NFL level.
Latest On Day 2 QB Outlook
Although the falls of Shedeur Sanders and Malik Willis defined days of past drafts this decade, earlier-than-expected quarterback picks (and rapid pre-draft rises) are a draft tradition. The Rams continued this with their Ty Simpson pick at No. 13, and considerable fallout emerged from the choice.
Simpson coming off the board before the first round’s midpoint surprised, and with the Rams choosing him, a few QB-needy teams that lacked Fernando Mendoza access are still without one as Day 2 nears. The destinations of Carson Beck, Drew Allar and Garrett Nussmeier may be known tonight.
The Cardinals are still a team to watch for on a quarterback. Several teams view Arizona as a potential fit for Beck, according to veteran insider Jordan Schultz. Arizona holds the Nos. 34 and 65 picks tonight, but Schultz adds the team is looking to move down. A slide down from 34 could put the Cards in better range for Beck, even if the recent CFP title game starter may have completed a late rise during the pre-draft process.
No team was more closely connected to Simpson than the Cardinals, but it turned out a trade-up from No. 34 was not going to be enough to land him. Beck came up late as a possible second-round option, though SI.com’s Albert Breer cautions it is still possible none of this trio goes off the board tonight. Breer does place Beck atop the QB queue, listing Allar and then Nussmeier next. Most teams view the LSU product third among this group, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, who cautions that is not a universal view.
The topic of this draft’s QB3 has come up frequently, and now that we have seen Mendoza and Simpson go off the board, it will be one of tonight’s centerpiece storylines. The Browns did a lot of QB work in this draft, Rapoport adds, though a Thursday report indicated Cleveland — after drafting Sanders and Dillon Gabriel last year — is not expected to select one.
The Rams and Jets worked out Nussmeier; the Colts did as well. Recent medical clearance on a spine injury also figures to matter significantly for the former first-round prospect. The Cardinals, Jets and Steelers used “30” visits on Allar. The Cardinals, Dolphins and Jets met with Beck.
The Dolphins, Jets and Steelers should be considered in the mix for these passers, though. And the Browns should not be ruled out just yet. That said, the prospect of a tantalizing 2027 QB crop could cause some of these teams to wait (this has come up as a Jets likely path). Then again, choosing a third-round passer this year would not exactly eliminate the prospect of a first-round choice next year.
LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier Receives Medical Clearance
LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier struggled with an abdominal injury for much of the 2025 season, raising some questions about his long-term health.
But those have seemingly been answered, as Combine medical testing uncovered a cyst on his spine that caused his abdominal injury, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. He has been healthy through the pre-draft process, but could require minor, minimally invasive surgery if it flares up again.
“Either way, doctors say, there is no short- or long-term risk for Nussmeier, who is projected a mid-round pick in this week’s NFL Draft,” Pellisero adds.
Nussmeier threw for over 4,000 yards in 2024 but his injury limited time and production on the field. He has an NFL-caliber arm, but needs to refine his vision and awareness in the pros. At 24-years-old, he is older than preferred for a developmental player, but positive reports about his intangibles (via Dane Brugler of The Athletic) suggest he can take to coaching.
Nussmeier is one of three Power 5 passers with claims to the QB3 spot in the draft class behind Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson. His positive medical update may make teams more comfortable drafting him on Day 2. Penn State’s Drew Allar and Miami’s Carson Beck are also on that list, with Beck receiving some late hype as a potentially Day 1 (but more likely Day 2) pick. Allar was much-hyped entering the 2025 season, but a broken ankle that sidelined in him October deprived him of the chance to boost his stock.
All three of those players could fall to Day 3, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. Mendoza will be drafted by the Raiders with the No. 1 pick, and Simpson’s stock has been inflated by the dearth of talent at the position. The gap between him and Nussmeier, Allar, and Beck is seen as a chasm, and teams may prefer to spend their Day 2 picks on players they see as more likely long-term starters.
Miami QB Carson Beck’s Stock Soaring
The 2026 draft class is not strong at the quarterback position behind projected No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza.
Alabama’s Ty Simpson is widely seen as the QB2 who could also be drafted on Day 1, but no other passers are expected to hear their name called until Day 2.
However, Miami’s Carson Beck has been a late riser in the pre-draft process. He now seen as a likely second-round pick with the potential to sneak into the first to a quarterback-needy team, perhaps one that is less enamored with Simpson.
“The quarterback who is going to go higher than every projection has had him in the process is Carson Beck,” NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero said this week on the Rich Eisen Show.
“There was a lot that teams had to sort through going back to Georgia,” Pelissero explained, referencing some off-field questions about Beck. But the 24-year-old answered some of those questions during the pre-draft process, raising his stock in the process.
Pelissero believes that Beck would be taken in the second round, but says there is “at least a non-trivial chance” that he is selected in the first.
“I would not 100% rule out the idea of Carson Beck somehow finding his way into the bottom of Round 1,” Pelissero said.
That assessment is shared by CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz, who has spoken to multiple sources that predicted a late first- or early second-round landing spot for Beck. His star has fallen in the public eye since his time at Georgia, but some evaluators believe he brings pro-ready football I.Q. and throwing ability.
Beck was mentioned by ESPN’s Matt Miller as a “potential sleeper” for the Jets in the middle rounds, though his rising stock may preclude that. New York is thought to be targeting the 2027 draft class for their next franchise quarterback, anyway, but they may prefer the certainty of drafting Beck now rather than waiting to see how next year’s class (and their draft slot) work out.
‘Long Wait’ To Find Out Draft’s QB3 May Ensue
The identities of the top two quarterback prospects of the 2026 NFL Draft have been clear for some time now. Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is all but Sharpied into the No. 1 overall draft slot, and though it’s unclear if he’ll hear is name on Day 1, Alabama’s Ty Simpson has distanced himself as QB2. According to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, though, “there’s no consensus opinion” on the identity of QB3, and there could be a long wait before we find out who will claim that honor.
For awhile now, it’s looked like a group of three passers has established itself as the next tier of draftable quarterbacks. This group contains LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, Penn State’s Drew Allar, and Miami’s Carson Beck. Nussmeier looked like a promising first-round candidate after throwing for 4,043 yards in his first season as a starter. Having sat three years, waiting for the starting job to open, Nussmeier was primed to ride the momentum of his 2024 campaign to another solid year. Unfortunately, he was plagued by an abdominal injury, and after losing two games, Nussmeier ended up getting benched in two more before sitting the rest of the season.
Allar has looked the part of prototypical quarterback ever since he committed to the Nittany Lions as a consensus five-star recruit. As a sophomore, first-year starter, he showed outstanding discipline with 25 touchdowns to only two interceptions, despite only completing 59.9 percent of his pass attempts. He improved his completion percentage over the next two years but lost discipline as he threw 11 interceptions in 22 games. He also never ranked higher than 65th in the NCAA in passing yards per game. Having never quite reached his potential, Allar’s collegiate career ended with a season-ending injury.
Like Nussmeier, Beck’s time as a starter at Georgia came after sitting for three years. After watching his team win consecutive national championships, Beck’s legacy in Athens was established as a passer who always just came up short. Beck owned a two-year record of 24-3, but one of those losses was to Alabama in the SEC championship in 2023, and he was injured during the Bulldogs’ College Football Playoff run in 2024. Beck transferred to play for the Hurricanes, and in one season, led the team to their first College Football Playoff appearance and a run that ended in a loss at the national championship game.
Smith also mentions Clemson passer Cade Klubnik. A consensus five-star recruit, like Allar, Klubnik peaked as a second-year starter in his junior year. Finishing the season with an average of 259.9 passing yards per game with 36 touchdowns to only six interceptions, Klubnik was listed right alongside Nussmeier as a potential first-round candidate before the 2025 season.
Klubnik’s legacy may be highlighted by the end of a Clemson dynasty, though. After an 11-year span in which the Tigers never lost more than three games in a season and won two of four championship game appearances, Clemson lost four games in each of Klubnik’s first two seasons as a starter and six games in his final year. His scoring production also dropped drastically in his final year as he threw only 16 touchdowns.
Smith is also intrigued by Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green. The intrigue around Green comes mostly from his abilities as a dual-threat passer. Over four years as a starter — two at Boise State before joining the Razorbacks — Green never threw more than 20 touchdowns in a season, while his completion percentage hovered around 60 and his interceptions increased with each year. Green showed electric rushing ability, though, with 1,024 yards and 19 touchdowns as a starter at Boise State and 1,379 yards and 16 touchdowns at Arkansas.
Nussmeier and Klubnik may have killed their first-round potential with brutal results in 2025, but teams could still be really impressed by their ceilings. Meanwhile, Beck improved what looked like a lost career with a strong final season, and Allar and Green hold plenty of potential even if they didn’t produce the best results in college. All it takes is for one team to fall in love with any of these prospects and pull the trigger first. It will be extremely interesting to look out for which teams attach themselves to each quarterback and how early they’ll be willing to do it.
Jets, Cardinals Could Have Similar Approach To Top Of Draft
Crowded together at the top of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Jets and Cardinals find themselves in a bittersweet situation. With the second and third overall picks in the first round, each franchise has a great opportunity to add an elite talent, but while both squads have a need at the sport’s most important position, this year’s draft is not lining up to reward them with one to select with their top draft picks.
Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson is widely considered the consensus QB2 of the draft class behind Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, who is expected to go No.1 overall to the Raiders. Unfortunately for Simpson and both teams, taking the Crimson Tide passer at Nos. 2 or 3 overall would be seen as a huge reach, so if either team were interested in landing the second-best quarterback prospect, it might require some maneuvering for another slot in the first round.
The Jets currently hold pick Nos. 2, 16, 33, and according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, there’s belief New York will exit the second round of the draft with a pass rusher and a quarterback, but that could happen in several different ways. Per Rapoport, the Jets are widely expected to select a pass rusher with the second overall pick. Versatile Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese has been a popular projection for New York there, but Texas Tech’s David Bailey also recently met with the team.
Rapoport also expects them to do their homework on all the possible options available at No. 2. They recently hosted Reese’s running mate in the Buckeyes’ linebacking corps, Sonny Styles, for a top 30 visit. Per Rapoport, Styles, also an expected top 10 pick, has plans to visit the Bengals, as well, though his trip to Cincinnati will be a considered a local visit, not a top 30.
To address the quarterback position, a lot rides on where exactly the Jets value Simpson. If they value him enough, they could chance him being around for their 16th overall pick in the first round. If things are trending in a direction that feels as if Simpson won’t make it that far, they could utilize their first overall pick of the second round to potentially try to trade up and land the quarterback. Alternatively, if using the 16th pick still feels like a stretch for Simpson, New York may explore increasing their collection of draft picks with a move further back in the first round.
As for the Cardinals, Rapoport claims it would surprise him if they drafted Simpson third overall, but at the same time, he acknowledges that we’ve seen the precedent for it in the past. He asserts that Arizona could simply fall in love with Simpson enough to select him that early. More likely, though, the Cardinals may look back just a year to an example set by the Giants. Following the approach New York used to add an elite pass rusher before trading back into the first round for a quarterback, the Cardinals may opt to do the same.
Where Simpson could fall in the first round (or later) has been a huge topic of debate. Early conjecture speculated that it might be prudent to move up past the Steelers at 21 to land Simpson, while further evaluation suggested trading into the back end of the first round, just ahead of the Dolphins at 30, would be the likely move. In recent weeks, Simpson’s chances of landing with either team in the first round have gone way down. In a mid-March episode of The McShay Show podcast, Todd McShay of The Ringer guaranteed that Simpson would “for a fact” not be the Steelers’ pick at No. 21, suggesting the team has more of a third-round value on the Crimson Tide quarterback.
Though Simpson recently visited Miami, ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald) did “not believe (the) Dolphins are in the mix for him.” Additionally, all four teams have done homework on other passers in the draft. Notably, since March 21, Miami quarterback Carson Beck has met with each team. Beck and the other projected mid-round quarterbacks offer secondary options for the teams that don’t land Simpson and may end up being preferred options if their draft slot more appropriately fits their value.
These represent just a few of several possibilities that could play out at the end of the month. There is no shortage of quarterback needs in the NFL, but seeing the Giants land their potential franchise passer later on in the first round a year ago has opened the door for a number of mind games to play out. We’ll see how well these draft day decision makers can play poker down the stretch as we await the final weekend in April.