2025 NFL mock draft: Full first-round mock with league-altering trades

11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Abdul Carter - EDGE - Penn State

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers definitely need some help off the EDGE, so it’s no surprise that they’ll take Adbul Carter here with the 11th overall pick.  The Bucs cut ties with Shaq Barrett this past offseason and did sign Randy Gregory, but as a whole, the unit is below-average, so I would assume that General Manager Jason Licht has this position on his radar.

And heck, if they can build on their breakout 2023 season, the Bucs might be a more established team than we think.  They weren’t great by any means in 2023, but they did manage to win nine games and a postseason game.  Could Licht have found a new franchise QB in Baker Mayfield only a couple of years after Tom Brady retired?  Maybe.

12. Arizona Cardinals (via SEA) - James Pearce Jr. - EDGE - Tennessee

The Arizona Cardinals just keep stacking top talent, and a ton of credit needs to go to GM Monti Ossenfort for the work he’s done thus far.  Somehow, Ossenfort is able to snag James Pearce Jr from Tennessee in the middle of the first round.  Pearce may end up being the first EDGE rusher off the board in the 2025 NFL Draft, but not on this one.  I look at the 2024 Cardinals as being significantly better than they were last year.

While I think they are a ways away from the postseason yet, 2025 could be a year they flirt with the playoffs if Ossenfort can be another solid offseason together.  Getting James Pearce would be a huge addition to the defense.

On the other side of the ball, QB Kyler Murray is going to be another year removed from his 2022 ACL injury, so that should help him get back on track.