With the waves of free agency finally receding, NFL teams now look toward the 2024 NFL draft.
While free agency was the place to shore up serious needs, the draft is where teams can find their next foundational piece and build their team from the ground-up. Many different positions will be taken in the first round, but the quarterbacks will be under the biggest microscope in the month leading up to the draft.
Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels and even J.J. McCarthy could all be first-round selections. The allure of a new franchise quarterback could force some teams to trade up. Our two previous mock drafts didn’t include trades that weren’t original — but this one does. A lot of ’em.
They don’t call this time of year March Madness for nothing.
The Houston Texans don’t currently have a first-round pick, though, after the team traded the No. 23 selection to the Minnesota Vikings for two second-round picks. We’ll see if general manager Nick Caserio and company remain there when all is said and done on draft night.
Here’s Texans Wire’s post-post free agency mock draft, featuring a bevy of trades and quarterbacks.
Justin Fields is gone, which means the Bears can submit their draft card more than a month in advance. Caleb Williams is the top quarterback prospect in this class and Chicago will already have a solid infrastructure around him with wideouts D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen plus running back D’Andre Swift.
Here. We. Go. The Vikings go up and get their quarterback in a blockbuster trade for the Commanders’ No. 2 overall pick. Minnesota gave up Nos. 11 and 23 as well as a 2025 first-round pick for Washington’s first-round pick and a 2025 third-round pick. The Vikings get their quarterback of the future in Drake Maye to compete with Sam Darnold.
The Patriots get in on the quarterback war and let the Broncos move up nine spots to grade J.J. McCarthy. While New England could use a young quarterback, they’ll be fine with veteran Jacoby Brissett. What the Patriots really need are more draft capital and offensive weapons. So the Broncos trade the No. 12 pick, a 2025 first-round pick and wide receiver Courtland Sutton to get McCarthy for head coach Sean Payton.
The madness continues here. The Cardinals don’t need a quarterback and put themselves into a position to still take a top-3 pass-catcher in a move back to No. 6. The Giants, meanwhile, get a tantalizing quarterback prospect in Jayden Daniels who could either side behind Daniel Jones in 2024 or takeover when he inevitable underperformers. New York gave up a 2025 second-rounder in the trade.
The Chargers luck out on the quarterback bonanza to land Marvin Harrison Jr. at No. 5. Harrison Jr. immediately becomes Justin Herbert’s No. 1 target after Los Angeles gutted its skill position group. The Chargers’ offense remains a mess, but Harrison is the best pass-catcher on the board and will be Herbert a little bit of light in 2024.
The Cardinals don’t get Harrison, but Nabers is a nice consolation prize. Arizona let Marquise Brown walk in free agency and traded away Rondale Moore. That left Michael Wilson, Greg Dortch and tight end Trey McBride as the top pass-catchers for quarterback Kyler Murray. Enter Nabers, who is a bonafide WR1 for Arizona.
OK. OK. The draft has settled down a bit now. Alt will remain the pick for the Titans until proven otherwise. Tennessee appears to be all-in on Will Levis at quarterback after adding pieces to the offense like wide receiver Calvin Ridley and center Lloyd Cushenberry, so why not add another good body on the offensive line in Alt?
Another offensive weapon like wide receiver Rome Odunze would be fun for Kirk Cousins, but head coach Raheem Morris is a defensive guy and needs some love for that room, too. Turner is the best edge rusher in the class and could feast in the NFC South with quarterbacks Derek Carr, Bryce Young and Baker Mayfield.
What? Another trade! Absolutely. New England added Courtland Sutton earlier in the draft and decided to trade up and snag Odunze away from other teams looking to move up. The Patriots traded away the No. 12 pick from the Broncos and a 2025 second-rounder to get back into the top 10 and give Brissett another quality pass-catcher.
Offensive line could work here as well with many quality options left on the board, but instead, the Jets go all-in on giving Aaron Rodgers more weapons to bring in the dynamic tight Brock Bowers. The Jets just added wideout Mike Williams as well, so the trio of him, Bowers and Garrett Wilson could be enough to put New York over the edge with running back Breece Hall. The Jets just need to pray for no injuries.
Oof. What a wild top-10 that was. Four trades in 10 picks. And now – the results of the other sides of those trades to grab quarterbacks. The Commanders refuse to reach on a fifth quarterback here and take the talent cornerback out of Toledo to shore up the secondary with
The Bears could go in a few directions with this selection. The offense looks set, but another offensive lineman couldn’t hurt. However, the simplest path is to put a big body in the middle of their defensive line. Chicago needs a good defense in the competitive NFC North. Byron Murphy would help make that possible.
The Raiders are the biggest losers of the quarterback craze. Multiple attempts to trade into the top 10 were thwarted by other offers, so now Las Vegas is stuck with either Gardner Minshew, Bo Nix, Michael Penix or a different position. They chose the latter and snagged a top-flight cornerback in Terriod Arnold.
It didn’t take long for another trade to pop up. With a lot of needs and an uncertain future, the Saints decide to trade back with the Dolphins and get another second-round pick in the process. Miami, meanwhile, gets its next starting defensive tackle in Johnny Newton to fill the void left behind by Christian Wilkins.
The Colts need secondary help in a division with a lot of good quarterbacks. So they snag a ballhawk in DeJean who can play anywhere in the defensive backfield and on special teams.
It would be very surprising if the Seahawks don’t go with Jackson Powers-Johnson here. Or any interior offensive lineman, for that matter. Seattle needs protection for Geno Smith and its duo of running backs in a division with a lot of space eaters up front.
Notice an AFC South trend here? The best defense against good quarterbacks is a great secondary and pass-rushers. Jacksonville has the latter, so they grabbed Wiggins here as another good cornerback.
Lost in the shuffle here is Fashanu, who should be a Day 1 starter for the Bengals to protect quarterback Joe Burrow. Cincinnati is a contender in the AFC so long as their quarterback remains upright, and Fashanu will be one the better options in the draft.
McKinstry tore up the Alabama Pro Day after a Jones fracture prevented him from participating at the NFL combine. He could go even higher than this. But in this scenario, he falls as far as the Rams to give Los Angeles its best cornerback since Jalen Ramsey.
The Steelers are in prime position to take one of the second-tier wide receivers late in the first round. Pittsburgh traded away Diontae Johnson and doesn’t have any depth behind George Pickens. Mitchell is a great add here to give Russell Wilson or Justin Fields more weapons.
The Saints mercifully released Michael Thomas this offseason, which left a serious hole in their wide receiver room. Chris Olave is the top option and A.T. Perry showed promise at times. Rashid Shaheed is a quality option but not an every-down pass-catcher. Brian Thomas, though, become a No. 2 option for Derek Carr.
The Eagles secondary of Darius Slay and James Bradberry is a little bit older. Sainristil would inject a little bit of youth and give Philadelphia some depth in 2024 before he turns into a full-time starter next year.
This pick has been passed around a lot in recent weeks. First from Cleveland to Houston, then to Minnesota and Arizona before it finally gets to Washington. The Commanders get a big-armed quarterback in Penix who gets a bunch of quality weapons at his disposal and Kliff Kingsbury as his offensive coordinator. Washington also picked up a lot of draft capital in the process.
Dallas adds to its offensive line to give Dak Prescott as much protection as he needs in 2024. This is a critical year for the Cowboys, who could be set up for a teardown in 2025 if things don’t go well for the franchise. Fuaga can stabilize the offensive line after the loss of Tyron Smith.
A late run on offensive tackles benefits the best teams in the NFL. The Packers’ youth movement will continue up front after the release of David Bakhtiari, where Latham should take over if he’s still here when Green Bay is on the clock.
The surprising lack of pass rushers taken in the first round lands Verse in Tampa — not too far from Florida State. The Buccaneers get a quick fix at pass rusher after the release of Shaq Barrett.
Arizona goes 2-for-1 on wide receivers in the first round to give Murray more options on offense. Nabers and Franklin are different players to give the Cardinals more versatility alongside Wilson, Dortch and McBride.
Buffalo has a lot of needs here, but the allure of Mims’ massive frame is too much to pass up this late in the first round. Offensive line depth is crucial in the AFC and Mims is good enough to be a starter either in 2024 or beyond.
The Lions need pass rusher help for Aidan Hutchinson. Robinson is a great choice and third-best option after Turner and Verse.
Baltimore could go wide receiver here but instead sticks to the trenches. Fautanu is a versatile offensive lineman who gives the Ravens a starter or a depth player for Lamar Jackson’s protection.
The 49ers will have to make a decision on the future of Brock Purdy soon. So rather than just give him more weapons, San Francisco opts to give him a better offensive line — starting with Guyton.
Let’s end on a fun note. The Texans trade back into the first round rather than wait at No. 42. Houston was looking for an inside possession receiver and land one with McConkey in the final pick of the first round. The Texans sent the Nos. 42 and 86 pick to move up 10 spots and give C.J. Stroud another pass-catcher in 2024.