As the 2025 NFL Draft approaches, conversations around teams trading up — especially for quarterbacks — have cooled in the wake of free agency, with many franchises now potentially turning their focus to find a signal caller in the second or third round.
But with blue-chip prospects like Colorado cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter and Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter in the mix — potential needle movers wherever they end up — might a team make an aggressive move up in an attempt to land one of them?
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That was the question one listener posed to Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen on the latest Monday Mailbag episode of “The Athletic Football Show.” Watch the discussion below.
A partial transcript has been edited for clarity and length. The full episode is available on YouTube below or in “The Athletic Football Show” feed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Michael Beller (show producer): Ben Hawksworth (listener) says, “Trade-up scenarios for quarterbacks have been fruitful over the past couple of months in the NFL media community, the relevant fan bases, and people wanting to move up for quarterbacks. This has cooled over the last couple of weeks after free agency. Are we neglecting the possibility of a Will Anderson Jr. or Julio Jones-style trade for a team in the eight to 18 range of the draft for one of those consensus blue-chip prospects like Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter?” Robert, what do you have here?
Robert: My framing of this question is, “What is the most fun potential trade-up scenario you can come up with for this year’s draft?” That’s how I decided to answer this, and I had two that immediately came to mind. We talked about this a little bit when discussing which teams had a lot at stake in this year’s draft. Derrik, you mentioned the Atlanta Falcons during that conversation, and we talked about how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were in a similar position. They were both in similar spots in what they needed and what could potentially take them over the top in their division. So either the Bucs or Falcons trading up for Carter is fun when you look at the rest of the needs on their roster.
The other one I had, and just because I’ve tried to throw difference-making players at these positions onto this roster for the last two months, is what if the Buffalo Bills just traded up for Hunter? And Hunter was the other cornerback on the Bills? That’s another one that I could get very excited about.
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Derrik: I also had the Bills on my list because they have an extra second-round pick they can wield potentially in a trade, so they’ve got the resources to go up and do this. Brandon Beane (Bills GM) has also said before, “It’s hard to find superstar players when you’re picking later in the draft.” Well then, why not jump up a little bit … this is your chance. They’re an interesting team. The Bucs and Falcons comparison is a funny one because both of them are probably in the top five in terms of teams that desperately need edge help. So if they were to go up and get Carter, I think that would be a good one.
One that I also came to, not necessarily because I think it makes sense for them to jump up, but because they have a lot of picks is the San Francisco 49ers. This is a team that probably needs most of their picks to try and reload on depth and stuff like that. I could see them wanting to jump up, going from 11 into maybe three or four. Maybe they want to go and get a guy like Hunter. I could see Kyle Shanahan (49ers head coach) being obsessed with getting 15 snaps out of him (on offense) in a given game. They were one I thought would be pretty fun if they potentially wanted to do it.
Robert: When we did our show earlier this week we had the Niners trading up in the draft. They traded up from 11 to eight. I can’t remember which tackle it was, but one of the tackles was on the board and they traded up with the Carolina Panthers and the Panthers moved down. I haven’t thought about this consciously until this week, but I guess I just really want the Panthers to trade down in the draft. We tried to do it with them trading down from eight to 20 (with the Denver Broncos) when we talked to Dane (Brugler). And then I tried to have them trade down in our show earlier this week. I just feel like that’s where the Panthers are. It hadn’t really clicked until this moment, but that’s what I want the Panthers to do in the first round because I’ve tried to do it like four different times now.
Derrik: Honestly, unless they are obsessed with Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona wide receiver), they probably should. They can trade down and still get a defender that is probably of the same quality as they would get at eight or nine.
Robert: And that’s what they need, they need a defender of whatever quality. That’s the most important thing on their board at multiple positions. You could easily justify it for them specifically. With the other teams, the Las Vegas Raiders are in a spot where they’ll probably get a high-quality player at six. The New York Jets because they need tackles and those tackles might still be around, I could understand them sticking there.
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With the Panthers, of the tackles or the guys that might fall — Ashton Jeanty (Boise State running back) might be there — it seems like neither of those are needs for them. They’re the team specifically because of what they need on defense that I think trying to trade down does make sense for them compared to some of the other teams picking in that range. The New Orleans Saints too … but that will never happen (laughs). That will never happen as long as we’re doing this.
You can listen to full episodes of “The Athletic Football Show” for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and watch on YouTube.
(Photo of Travis Hunter: Ron Chenoy / Imagn Images)
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