2025 NFL Draft: These teams could be desperate for a first-round quarterback
The 2025 NFL Draft is still months away, but that won't stop us from looking at a handful of teams who could be truly desperate for a first-round QB. In the 2024 NFL Draft, six quarterbacks went in the top 12 picks, which was an insane trend that we might not see again for quite sometime.
As we slowly but surely creep toward the 2025 NFL Draft, it's already clear that a handful of teams and maybe even more must do what it takes to secure a first-round quarterback. Let's dive into four of them here.
2025 NFL Draft: These teams could be desperate for a first-round quarterback
New York Giants
The New York Giants quarterback situation is just devastating, and the way that GM Joe Schoen has handled it should be enough to fire him. The decision to extend Daniel Jones was baffling to say the least, but New York is in a position next offseason to do a hard reset at QB. They can move on from Jones and look to the 2025 NFL Draft to find a replacement.
This would be wise, as the Giants do seem to have the right head coach in Brian Daboll. They also have a stud left tackle in Andrew Thomas and could have an elite WR in rookie Malik Nabers.
Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders are starting Gardner Minshew in Week 1 of the 2024 NFL Season, so that tells you where this team is going to go this year, and it's nowhere. The Raiders missed out on all six first-round QBs in 2024. When their 13th pick came up, Bo Nix became the sixth and final QB taken at pick 12.
He went to the Denver Broncos, so the Raiders ended up taking Brock Bowers with their pick. The team clearly does not have a long-term answer on the roster and must be heavy in the QB market when the 2025 NFL Draft rolls around. Can new General Manager Tom Telesco put a competent QB situation in place next offseason?
Seattle Seahawks
Another team that seemed to have some degree of interest in a first-round QB in 2024 was the Seattle Seahawks, who will go forward with Geno Smith in 2024. Smith is in his mid-30s and might be the 18th-best QB in football, so he's just another version of Derek Carr. The Seahawks are not going to go very far with Smith under center, and I believe head coach Mike Macdonald knows that.
Seattle should look to the 2025 NFL Draft to bring in a first-round QB, as you'd expect some sort of solution at QB to be attempted in year two of Macdonald's tenure with the team.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Someone needs to tell Mike Tomlin that the defensive first mindset is not working in today's NFL. It's time for a change, as the Steelers surely know that neither Justin Fields nor Russell Wilson are going to take them where they want to go. They are a different version of what the Steelers had last season.
If Pittsburgh wants to put their franchise back on the right track, they must bring in a first-round QB. There is no other way around it. Steelers GM Omar Khan has to get aggressive next offseason and must ensure that his team comes away with a QB in round one. Pittsburgh will continue to hover around average if they trot out below-average QBs with top-10 defenses.
That does not win in the NFL anymore, period.