2025 NFL Draft News, Rumors, Risers, Fallers, Player Trades & More
The 2025 NFL Draft is right around the corner with the festivities kicking off in two weeks on April 24th. And, naturally, the NFL Draft news and rumors are buzzing about who will go where and why.
Every year there are dramatic predictions of trades in NFL mock drafts with guys rising and falling up and down draft boards all month long. With the NFL Combine and most pro days in the rearview, all there is left to do is speculate.
So what we’ll do each week leading up the draft is round up whatever information we can among the mock draft and fantasy football community and put it in one place. We’ll let you know who is trending up, who is trending down, and which teams are most likely to make a big splash via trade.
Even at the very top with guys like Shedeur Sanders or Tetairoa McMillan, we could see some surprises!
2025 NFL Draft Prospects: Risers
Jalon Walker - LB, Georgia
Linebackers who play “off ball” have fallen in recent years in favor of linebackers who rush the passer. But Jalon Walker has gained a lot of steam lately with Todd McShay now having him go 5 overall to the Jaguars in his most recent mock draft.
There are also rumors that he has “a lot of fans” in New England (who pick at 4) and he’s visiting the Browns this week (who pick at 2).
Jaxson Dart - QB, Ole Miss
In the first Fantasy Alarm NFL Mock Draft released last week, Jaxson Dart was listed at 9 overall to the New Orleans Saints which is the same spot that Todd McShay and others have him.
At one point that was viewed as high for dart but now, after recent visits with Cleveland and Las Vegas who pick at 2 and 6 respectively, the rumors are swirling that the hot offseason name could go even earlier.
Kyle Williams - WR, Washington State
Kyle Williams has been a divisive player through the NFL offseason as he did well at the Senior Bowl but got hurt at the combine and couldn’t do much. That is especially true with fantasy analysts who either love or hate senior prospects.
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, on a show with Kevin Clark, recently named Kyle Williams as one of the three players he believes has gained the most steam in recent weeks after meeting individually with teams.
2025 NFL Draft Prospects: Fallers
Shedeur Sanders - QB, Colorado
We really can’t mention players trending down without Sanders. There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors leading up to the draft but a lot of times that comes with a mixed bag of good and bad.
Originally viewed as either the first or second pick off the board, many now have Sanders falling down the board. Sportsbooks like DraftKings now have the over/under for Sanders set at 8.5 with the Saints as the betting favorite (who pick at 9).
Tetairoa McMillan - WR, Arizona
As with Sanders, the debate for the longest time at the top for wide receivers was Travis Hunter vs. Tet McMillan. And, with Hunter possibly playing cornerback, McMillan was widely viewed as the top option.
Whether it’s his profile, prospect fatigue, or re-surfacing comments about not watching football, the love for McMillan at the top has waned as of late. Many in the fantasy football community actually have Luther Burden or Emeka Egbuka as their top option so a slide for McMillan isn’t crazy.
Will Johnson - CB, Michigan
Will Johnson missed the entire second half of the Wolverines season and the NFL Combine with a turf toe injury which is never good for draft stock. Then he suffered a hamstring injury which caused him to miss Michigan’s pro day as well.
That’s going to kill a lot of the buzz surrounding a player for mock drafts and potentially make teams nervous. He will reportedly hold a private workout on April 14th so hopefully he can gain some favor back there.
2025 NFL Rumors: Draft Trades
Cleveland Browns
The Browns have to be mentioned here because of the RANGE of trade rumors. The Shedeur Sanders talk naturally has folks saying they trade back from second overall. There are also rumors of them now making a pick at two and then trading back into the first for a quarterback.
There are even people floating the idea of the Browns trading for Jets star running back Breece Hall, like Sports Illustrate suggests. With Cam Ward widely expected to go first overall, the 2025 NFL Draft starts at 2.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers have the trade rumors swirling around them for a couple reasons. First, they are one of the few teams that need a quarterback which always brings the trade up rumors from pick 21.
But they also don’t pick again after that until pick 83 after the DK Metcalf trade and they only have three picks in the top 150. So, there’s also plenty of speculation that they trade back to get more capital in this draft.
Minnesota Vikings
After combing through mock drafts across the industry, there seems to be a similar trend of having the Minnesota Vikings trade back in the 2025 NFL Draft. And the thought process seems to be fairly similar, given what we’ve seen teams do in this position before.
The Vikings only have four picks in this draft, the fewest of any team, so they might turn their first round pick into additional selections if they don’t love who is available when they are on the clock.
Player News
Seahawks re-signed Johnathan Hankins to a one-year contract.
Hankins hasn’t had a PFF run defense grade above 52.4 since 2020 and is primarily called on to play early downs. He turned 33 in March. He’ll be a complimentary piece behind Jarran Reed and Byron Murphy II if he makes the roster out of training camp.
Chargers placed the UFA tender on RB J.K. Dobbins.
This gives the Chargers exclusive negotiating rights if he does not sign with a team by July 22 or the first 2025 NFL training camp opens, whichever comes first. The tag is mainly useful for compensatory pick reasons as Dobbins will still count towards Los Angeles’ haul in the formula if signed before then. The Chargers currently do not project to add a pick in 2026 per Over The Cap’s Nick Korte.
49ers signed OT D.J. Humphries.
Humphries played in only two games for the Chiefs last year as he spent most of the season rehabbing a late 2023 torn ACL on his own. He wasn’t appreciably good in either of those games, but he was rusty and does have a history of better than that. Entering his age-32 season for the 49ers, he’ll probably be trying to win the right tackle job opposite Trent Williams in training camp.
Patriots released LS Joe Cardona.
The team selected his replacement, Julian Ashby, in the seventh round of the draft. This snapper of balls who are longer than usual is only 33, and it’s possible he picks up his career elsewhere. There aren’t too many remaining Patriots Regimes in the wild in 2025, but Nick Caserio does still run the Texans and they let Jon Weeks walk this offseason so that’s one speculative fit.
NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill said he would be “flabbergasted” if Derek Carr played for the Saints this year.
“I would have trouble understanding why you would allow that to happen, you’re trying to build a new culture, you can’t let that guy ... you just got a rookie QB, this is the example you’re going to give him,” Underhill continued. Both Underhill and Mike Triplett believe Tyler Shough will be starting for the Saints in Week 1, with Underhill saying he had “80 percent or higher odds to start 80 percent of the games this year.” Shough would be an uninspiring superflex pick, perhaps a QB3, but given how things have played out with Carr over the past months it sure doesn’t seem like the Saints have a reason to want to continue this relationship. Mickey Loomis literally asked reporters to stop asking him Carr questions at his pre-draft press conference.
Vikings signed LB Andrew Van Ginkel to a one-year, $23 million extension.
The deal contains $22.4 million guaranteed per Adam Schefter. The pick-six machine had a successful first year in Minnesota with an 81.0 PFF coverage grade, 11.5 sacks, and six passes defensed. Entering his age-30 season, this will tie him to Minnesota through the 2026 season.