The regular season is starting to wrap up, and while the good teams look toward the playoffs, the bad ones start focusing on the 2024 NFL Draft order. Following their lopsided loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Los Angeles Chargers officially own a top-five pick, at least for the time being. In a league littered with parody, the vast majority of these teams have similar records and a lot can change between now and the start of the 2024 NFL Draft. However, as of this posting, this is how the board would fall if the season ended today.
Note: the 2024 NFL Draft order is per Tankathon. This list will not include teams that are currently in the playoffs, as their draft position will be determined by postseason matchups.
- Chicago Bears (via Carolina Panthers)
- New England Patriots
- Arizona Cardinals
- Washington Commanders
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Chicago Bears
- New York Jets
- New York Giants
- Tennessee Titans
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Atlanta Falcons
- New Orleans Saints
- Seattle Seahawks
- Los Angeles Rams
- Arizona Cardinals (via Houston Texans)
- Denver Broncos
- Buffalo Bills
- Cincinnati Bengals
Updated 2024 NFL Draft Order Following Thursday Night Football
Top Takeaways
Far and away the most interesting question leading up to the NFL Draft is what the Chicago Bears will do with the first-overall pick. Justin Fields is starting to play like a franchise quarterback, but he’s due for a pay raise, and Caleb Williams is widely considered one of the best quarterback prospects in recent memory. The team could probably get a king’s ransom in a trade for the first-overall pick, or they could trade Fields for a second-round pick and keep Williams for themselves.
It’s safe to assume that Williams and Drake Maye will be top-five selections, but what will happen to Jayden Daniels? Widely considered to be the third-best quarterback in this class, it’s hard to see where he’ll go. As things currently stand, the New York Jets make the most sense with the seventh-overall selection, but a team like the New Orleans Saints could trade up to go get their guy.
Marvin Harrison will probably be the first non-quarterback off the board. After that, however, it’s anyone’s guess. Assuming the first three picks are Williams-Maye-Harrison, then the Washington Commanders will have a tough decision. On the one hand, the team desperately needs to upgrade their offensive line, and someone like Olu Fashanu could make Sam Howell’s life a lot easier. On the other hand, the defense is arguably the worst in the league and needs all the help it can get.
Possible Trades
Trades are inevitable leading up to the NFL Draft, and this order will undergo dramatic changes over the next few months. As previously mentioned, the Bears will either trade the first-overall pick or Justin Fields, and the Saints could easily trade up for Jayden Daniels. However, we could also see the Carolina Panthers try to get back in the first round by trading Brian Burns. Burns is set to be a free agent, but the team could easily retain him with the franchise tag. If that happens, they could likely trade him for a first-round pick and use that selection to get a legitimate wide receiver. The Los Angeles Rams reportedly wanted to trade two first-round picks for Burns last year, so they’d probably be willing to trade the 14th-overall pick for him now.
Of course, for every team that trades up, somebody needs to trade down. Looking across the board, the most likely trade-down candidate is the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers already have their franchise quarterback in Justin Herbert, but the rest of the roster is littered with holes. Considering their salary cap situation, the Chargers are probably better off accumulating picks and getting as many good players as possible. One non-quarterback will not be able to fix this alone.
Main Photo: Mandi Wright – USA Today Sports
