Category: 2024 NFL draft

Way-too-early 2024 mock draft projects Saints to pick Washington DE Bralen Trice

This way-too-early 2024 mock draft from USA Today projects the New Orleans Saints to (eventually) pick big Washington Huskies defensive end Bralen Trice:

The ink is still drying on the 2023 NFL draft and we’re already seeing mock drafts for the 2024 cycle. What are we doing? More importantly, who are the New Orleans Saints being linked to?

One projection comes from USA Today’s Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, who likes the Saints to end up with Washington Huskies defensive end Bralen Trice. Here’s what he wrote of the player, using the current Super Bowl odds to determine draft order (putting the Saints at No. 19):

Despite using a second-rounder on Notre Dame defensive end Isaiah Foskey, the Saints should keep mulling their pass-rush plans, especially with Cameron Jordan turning 34 in July. The 6-4, 267-pound Trice led all Power Five edge rushers last season with 70 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, while notching nine sacks.

Trice is one of the top pass rushers eligible for next year’s draft, and if he builds on his momentum he’ll have no problem securing a spot in the first round of selections. The Saints have a clear long-term need at defensive end with only Foskey (once he formally signs), Tanoh Kpassagnon, and Payton Turner under contract through 2024, so they’ll likely be replacing either Jordan or Carl Granderson in the near future. Trice fits the athletic prototype they value with a big frame and real power off the edge, so he’s someone to watch when the college football season kicks off in the fall.

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Jaguars projected to target CBs in way-too-early 2024 mock drafts

The Jaguars didn’t take a cornerback early in the 2023 NFL draft. So how about next year?

Most expected cornerback to be a top priority for the Jacksonville Jaguars during the 2023 NFL draft. Not only did the Jaguars not address the position in the first round, they didn’t pick a cornerback until taking Christian Braswell at No. 202 overall.

So it’s not surprising that experts think that need will still be a pressing one in 2024.

For now, the Jaguars have Tyson Campbell and Darious Williams both under contract until the 2025 offseason. But the depth behind that duo is just a few underwhelming veterans with some late-round picks from the 2022 and 2023 drafts.

Even with a free agent acquisition or a breakout year from a young player already on the roster, cornerback stands to be a big need again next year.

In way-too-early 2024 mock drafts published this weekend, many experts think that’ll be the position the Jaguars target when they’re on the clock in the first round next year:

Jaguars currently projected to have 11 picks in 2024 NFL draft

The Jaguars are expected to have a lot of draft picks to work with in 2024, as well.

The Jacksonville Jaguars set a franchise record over the weekend with a 13-player draft class, the largest ever for the team. The Jaguars are set to have a ton of draft ammunition in 2024, as well.

As of right now, the Jaguars own nine picks in next year’s draft — their original seven selections as well as extra fourth- and sixth-round picks they acquired from the New Orleans and Carolina Panthers, respectively.

Barring an outrageous scenario where Calvin Ridley doesn’t make the 53-man roster in the fall, one of those nine picks (a second-, third-, or fourth-rounder) will be sent to the Atlanta Falcons.

But two or three picks will be headed back into Jacksonville’s stockpile next spring when the league announces compensatory picks. A third-rounder for Jawaan Taylor seems like a guarantee and a sixth-rounder for Arden Key looks highly likely.

The question mark is whether the Jaguars will get a seventh-round pick for losing Marvin Jones Jr after he got a contract from the Detroit Lions that is teetering on the edge of being not enough. For now, Over The Cap projects the loss of Jones to net the Jaguars the Mr. Irrelevant selection next year.

Here are the Jaguars’ projected picks in the 2024 NFL draft

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For now, the New Orleans Saints only own 5 picks for 2024 NFL draft

How many picks will the New Orleans Saints have in the 2024 NFL draft? They’ve already traded some future picks away, but more changes are on the way:

Yeesh. At first glance, it looks like the New Orleans Saints won’t be big players in the 2024 NFL draft. The Saints have already traded three of their initial seven picks in the 2024 draft to facilitate moves with other teams. But more changes are on the way.

For one thing, the Saints are projected to receive at least three compensatory draft picks in 2024 for losing high-profile free agents in 2023: defensive tackle David Onyemata (fourth round) and defensive end Marcus Davenport (fourth round), as well as linebacker Kaden Elliss (sixth round). Depending on how things shake out with the comp picks formula, they could get another sixth rounder, but that doesn’t appear very likely. We won’t find out until March 2024 anyway.

But the knowledge that those extra picks are coming down the pipeline helped the Saints justify their decisions to spend a little more recklessly. They sent a third-round pick in 2024 to the Denver Broncos so they could get a second rounder back while trading former head coach Sean Payton.

Then they spent a 2024 fourth-round pick to upgrade one of their seventh rounders in 2023 to a fourth rounder, targeting Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener. Depending on where the Saints slot into next year’s draft order, they could essentially get that pick back as a compensatory selection for Davenport or Onyemata. Not a bad move.

If there’s an egregious trade involving one of their 2024 picks, it was the decision to send a seventh-round selection to the Houston Texans a few years back so they could bring running back Mark Ingram II back to New Orleans. But come on. Seventh rounders are little more than lottery scratch-off tickets, and the Saints haven’t hit on one of those since they picked Marques Colston back in 2006.

But the point here is that fans shouldn’t panic over seeing so few picks lined up in next year’s draft. The Saints are expecting to get back multiple compensatory picks which will do a lot to help them reload. They’re finally valuing those extra picks in free agency the way they should have been doing in years past. Hopefully they make the most of them.

With that said, here are the picks the Saints are currently scheduled to own in 2024:

  • Round 1 (own)
  • Round 2 (via Denver Broncos)
  • Round 5 (own)
  • Round 6 (own)
  • Round 6 (via Philadelphia Eagles, either from Eagles or Tennessee Titans)

One other variable we don’t know about is whether that sixth rounder coming back from the Eagles (as part of the C.J. Gardner-Johnson trade last summer) will be the lower of their two selections, depending on where Philadelphia and Tennessee end up picking in the draft order.

Additionally, here are the picks they’re currently scheduled to make in the following years:

  • 2025: Rounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
  • 2026: Rounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7

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Sports Illustrated lists Titans as team that should tank in 2023

A Sports Illustrated writer named the Titans among teams he thinks should tank in 2023.

As the Tennessee Titans continue to toe the line between a retool and a rebuild, one writer believes the team should tank in order to put itself in position to grab the No. 1 overall pick — and, in turn, USC quarterback Caleb Williams — in the 2024 NFL draft.

In an article listing five teams who should tank in 2023 with an eye on 2024, Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr names the Titans as one of them, along with the Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Rams.

Here’s some of what he had to say:

If you’re the Titans, can you honestly look at the roster as presently constructed and think that a Super Bowl is in the cards? Or would you rather reload now, before the Jaguars pull away and the Texans start properly using all the capital they received for Watson?

Another factor I’m considering here is the tenure and survivability of a coach. Vrabel is one of the best coaches in the NFL. He just had his first losing season. The Titans have a GM at the beginning of a brand-new contract. While there is always pressure to win, they can afford a strategic gap year. 

As currently constituted, the Titans are heading for a mediocre season in which they’ll probably hover somewhere around seven to eight wins, mostly because Mike Vrabel and the defense will keep them competitive.

Now, things can change if the Titans decide to blow it up and rebuild by selling off key players like Derrick Henry, Jeffery Simmons and Kevin Byard, but I don’t see that happening on Vrabel’s watch.

Instead, the Titans will likely use 2023 as a transition year with an eye on 2024 when the team will have a lot of cap space to work. As a result, they’ll almost certainly miss out on Williams in 2024.

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Where Titans stand with 2024 comp picks after recent FA moves

The Titans are currently projected for one 2024 compensatory pick after recent free-agent moves.

With free agency in full swing, we are starting to get an idea of the compensatory picks the Tennessee Titans might have in 2024.

Of course, this will remain a fluid situation until free agency dies down, but as of right now the Titans are set to have one compensatory pick in the fourth round in 2024, per Nick Korte of Over the Cap.

Tennessee signing offensive tackle Andre Dillard and edge rusher Arden Key negated the sixth-round picks they would have received for losing both David Long and DeMarcus Walker.

However, Nate Davis signing with the Chicago Bears put the fourth-rounder in Tennessee’s column. The signings of Azeez Al-Shaair and Daniel Brunskill do not factor into the compensatory pick formula.

Here’s a basic explanation at how comp picks are determined, per Over the Cap. Click the link if you’re interested in a deeper dive.

In plain English, if a team loses more players that qualify as CFAs than it signs during free agency, that team is eligible to be awarded compensatory picks in the following NFL draft.

It is important to note that only certain players qualify for the compensatory formula. Those are only players whose contracts expire. Players who are cut are the most common example of free agents ineligible to become CFAs, but other methods of disqualification, such as a Restricted Free Agent not given a tender, also exist. In its most general sense, players only become Compensatory Free Agents if they are free to leave their old team against that team’s will.

Follow along with our tracker for all of the latest free-agent moves and more from the Titans.

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Titans’ updated 2024 comp pick situation after signing Dillard, losing Long

After agreeing to terms with Andre Dillard, and with David Long leaving for Miami, the Titans’ comp pick situation has changed.

Earlier in the day when the Tennessee Titans lost right guard Nate Davis in free agency to the Chicago Bears, the Titans were in line for a fifth-round compensatory pick, but as is the case with most things, it was a fluid situation.

Well, since that signing, things have indeed changed. Now, with the Titans signing offensive tackle Andre Dillard and losing David Long to the Miami Dolphins, Tennessee is in line for a sixth-round compensatory pick.

This comes from Over the Cap’s Nick Korte, who notes that the Dillard deal cancels out the comp pick from the Davis deal, but Long agreeing with Miami puts Tennessee back on the board for a sixth-rounder instead.

The reason this remains a fluid situation for now is because the final tally of comp picks is based on how many eligible players a team signs and loses in free agency.

For more information on how comp picks are figured out, check out Over the Cap.

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Titans on the board for 2024 comp pick after Nate Davis signs with Bears

The Titans are on the 2024 compensatory pick board with Nate Davis leaving for the Bears.

UPDATE: The Tennessee Titans’ comp pick situation has changed now that they’ve signed Andre Dillard and lost David Long to the Miami Dolphins. Check out the update right here.

The Tennessee Titans are losing their right guard in free agency, with 2019 third-round pick Nate Davis reportedly signing with the Chicago Bears. As a result, the Titans are now on the board for a compensatory pick in 2024.

According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Davis is signing a three-year, $30 million deal, with $19.25 million guaranteed. The annual average ranks 13th among guards as of this writing, per Spotrac.

On the bright side, the Titans are now in line to receive a compensatory pick. Over the Cap’s Nick Korte notes that Davis could net the Titans a fifth-round selection in 2024.

However, it’s important to note that can change between now and next year, as ultimately the amount of comp picks a team receives depends upon how many free agents who qualify for the comp-pick formula are gained and lost.

Here’s more on that, per Over the Cap:

In plain English, if a team loses more players that qualify as CFAs than it signs during free agency, that team is eligible to be awarded compensatory picks in the following NFL draft.

It is important to note that only certain players qualify for the compensatory formula. Those are only players whose contracts expire. Players who are cut are the most common example of free agents ineligible to become CFAs, but other methods of disqualification, such as a Restricted Free Agent not given a tender, also exist. In its most general sense, players only become Compensatory Free Agents if they are free to leave their old team against that team’s will.

With Davis gone, the Titans now have to replace four starters upfront in 2023, unless the plan is to move Aaron Brewer to center.

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