Source: Brooke Sutton / Getty
and a Trump-infused
Chicago Bears troll from Clay Matthews, the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay began.
First up, Washington State’s Cam Ward was picked up by the
Tennessee Titans, who desperately needed a quarterback. The team doesn’t have many offensive weapons, but with Ward’s versatility and ability to uplift players around him, expect him to make an immediate improvement to the team, which had a 3-14 record last season.
The second pick became the subject of the first major trade, as the
Jacksonville Jaguars sent a costly trade package to the Cleveland Browns to pick up
Travis Hunter. The Florida kid is headed back home to help the Jags on both sides of the ball because he has the talents to read the opponents’ offense as a cornerback but can double back as a receiver and seems to evade tacklers with ease.
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While Hunter is celebrating his progression to the NFL, his shot caller,
Shadeur Sanders, went unpicked in the draft. Though a weak draft class for quarterbacks, Sanders —who didn’t participate in the
Combine— was predicted to get picked up by the New York Giants. Big Blue had other things in mind, picking EDGE Abdul Carter with the third pick after getting back in the first round. Then with Houston’s 25th pick, they still didn’t pick up Sanders, instead opting for Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart, who just so happens to share an alma Mater with
Eli Manning.
The Giants do have Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston above Dart in the depth chart, but it’s another reminder that New York’s never drafted a Black quarterback and didn’t even start until
Geno Smith in 2017.
Sanders was hailed as a top-five pick, so not getting scooped up at all in the first round was the biggest surprise of night one. The quarterback even
addressed it at his draft party after the snub.
“We all didn’t expect this, of course, but I feel like with God, anything possible. I don’t feel like this happened for no reason. All of this is fuel to the fire,” Sanders said. “Under no circumstances did we all know this was going to happen, but we understand we on to bigger and better things. Tomorrow’s the day. We going to be happy regardless. Legendary.”
Here’s how the res of the top 10 picks shook out:
4. New England Patriots – Will Campbell, OT, LSU
5. Cleveland Browns (from JAX) – Mason Graham, DT, Michigan
6. Las Vegas Raiders – Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
7. New York Jets – Armand Membou, OT, Missouri
8. Carolina Panthers – Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona
9. New Orleans Saints – Kelvin Banks Jr., OT, Texas
10. Chicago Bears – Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan
But see how social media is reacting to round one, namely Sanders’ situation, below.
