The NFL Draft is an event that brings all 32 fan bases to the table. Whether you\u2019re a fan of a team that made a deep playoff run or was eliminated by Thanksgiving, there\u2019s some level of action you can expect over the course of three days.<\/p>\n
However, it\u2019s no secret that every year, some teams hold more prominence than others. Entering the draft, one would expect a team like the Miami Dolphins, who hold two first-round picks and a collection of premium picks on Day 2, to be a bigger factor than a team like the Atlanta Falcons, who don\u2019t have a first-round pick and have only five selections overall.<\/p>\n
Beyond the teams making selections, there\u2019s a lot still to be determined about the upcoming draft. In a quarterback-starved year, what will the trade market be for teams looking to move up or down the draft board? What will the cost be to get into the top 10, if a team is interested in doing so? What about getting into the back half of the first round for teams looking to get the fifth-year option on a player?<\/p>\n
These are questions that many teams may be asking, but only a few have the potential of dictating. With that being the case, let\u2019s take a look at the five most intriguing teams that can shape the activity across the league.<\/p>\n
5. Dallas Cowboys<\/p>\n
The Cowboys have two first-round picks, at Nos. 12 and 20, but it\u2019s the placement of those picks that makes the Cowboys intriguing from a league-wide perspective. With how awful the team\u2019s defense was in 2025, one would assume that addressing that side of the ball will be top of mind, especially on Day 1. Given the lack of quarterbacks at the top of the draft, there\u2019s potential for a lot of the Cowboys\u2019 desired targets to fly off the board in the 10 picks in front of them, after Fernando Mendoza, and the elite defensive talent is scarce enough that waiting at No. 12 could spell trouble for the Cowboys. Does that make Dallas a team that tries to trade up to get a difference-making defender? If so, would the cost of doing business require No. 12 and No. 20, or can they make it happen at a lesser price since they aren\u2019t going for a premium position? If they don\u2019t trade up and the players they want are gone, do they desperately try to trade down and add a Day 2 pick, given they only have one going into the draft?<\/p>\n
Both of the Cowboys\u2019 picks could be open for business. The Cowboys could also stand idle and take players at No. 12 and No. 20. Given the team\u2019s track record, it also shouldn\u2019t be dismissed that either pick could be involved in a trade to acquire a veteran player (as unlikely as it may be, owner and general manager Jerry Jones refuses to shut the door on Maxx Crosby).<\/p>\n
4. New York Giants<\/p>\n
Trading away Dexter Lawrence and adding the No. 10 pick from the Cincinnati Bengals makes the Giants headliners on Thursday. Having two first-round picks isn\u2019t terribly rare, but having two top-10 selections \u2014 the Giants have their own pick at No. 5 and then Cincinnati\u2019s at No. 10 \u2014 doesn\u2019t happen often. It\u2019s only happened four times since 2000, with the New York Jets being the latest in 2022. The Giants are in an interesting spot because they have needs almost everywhere on the roster, except at quarterback. Although this draft isn\u2019t deep on elite talent, 10 great players project as worthy premier selections. The Giants can gauge whether it\u2019s worth getting two players with those two picks or try to trade back, where they can add more picks in the second layer of the draft, where New York only has one selection between No. 11 and No. 104.<\/p>\n
In addition to their draft capital, the hiring of John Harbaugh makes for an unprecedented power dynamic in the Giants\u2019 front office. Harbaugh has made it clear that he reports to nobody but the ownership, so how will general manager Joe Schoen handle his new, diminished role in a process in which he\u2019s been at the forefront?<\/p>\n
3. Kansas City Chiefs<\/p>\n
It won\u2019t be often in the Patrick Mahomes era that the Chiefs have a top-10 pick like they have this year at No. 9. They also have the Los Angeles Rams\u2019 first-rounder at No. 29 and two more picks in the top 75. This draft is also deep at tight end, which means they could find Travis Kelce\u2019s replacement later in the draft as Kelce finishes out his career in Kansas City. Last season was a disappointment for the Chiefs, but the 2026 draft could shape up to be one that helps them reload and get back on track. Could they try to gain value in the middle of the draft by trading out of No. 9? Is there a team trying to get a player on a fifth-year option that\u2019s willing to pay to acquire No. 29? The Chiefs are in a luxurious position as a team that has a decent amount of talent and a bona fide franchise quarterback, so they\u2019re not clinging to any of their picks too desperately.<\/p>\n
2. Pittsburgh Steelers<\/p>\n
Nobody has more draft picks this year than the Steelers\u2019 12 selections. They only have one apiece in the first two rounds, but they have three third-round picks and a pair of fourth-rounders. The way the talent in this draft is perceived to be, with a wider pool in the second and third tier of players, the Steelers will not only be primed to throw many darts at that crop, but it also frees them up to do business in the first round. They can attach some of those picks to their No. 21 pick and move up, or even add more selections to the middle of their draft by trading back in the first round.<\/p>\n
1. Miami Dolphins<\/p>\n
Aside from signing a young quarterback to a decent contract in free agency, the organization has leaned into tearing it down for a full rebuild. The Dolphins have a whopping seven draft picks in the top 100 \u2014 no other team has more than four \u2014 but the placement of their two first-round picks makes things interesting. Their first pick is at No. 11, which is right around the cutoff that many draft analysts believe the elite talent in this year\u2019s class begins to take a dip. The second first-rounder is the Denver Broncos\u2019 pick at No. 30, which is where teams could eye to jump back into the first round if they want to have the fifth-year option on his rookie deal. Although Kansas City is positioned similarly in the first round, Miami also has a high volume of picks in the first two days. The Dolphins are in a prime position to take talent off the board and dictate the trade market.<\/p>\n
Honorable mention<\/p>\n
New York Jets: The Jets are heavy at the top, with two picks in the top 16 and four in the top 45. Given the way they\u2019ve shipped out young talent in the past year, it\u2019s clear the window for winning does not include 2026. They also don\u2019t have to waste a pick on a quarterback they don\u2019t like since they got a decent stopgap in Geno Smith and should be positioned to pick near the top of the draft in 2027, too. All of that lends to New York having some flexibility with how it wants to handle its picks in the first two rounds. The Jets could make those four selections and get some quality talent, or they could be blown away by another team\u2019s offer for No. 2 and pick up draft capital beyond this year\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n
Cleveland Browns: They\u2019re the only team that has multiple first-round picks that we haven\u2019t mentioned already, but the Browns have three selections in the top 40. They\u2019re an especially interesting team for trade-up scenarios, because if a team wants to get into the top 10 to get a premier talent but not at the expense of gutting its draft capital, the Browns are set up to offer that option at No. 6 and include No. 39 overall as part of a package. In this case, Cleveland would still have the Jacksonville Jaguars\u2019 pick at No. 24 and whatever it got back in a trade. The Browns are also intriguing from the perspective that they don\u2019t have a clear answer at quarterback<\/a>, hired an offensive-minded head coach this offseason in Todd Monken, but they have two quarterbacks they selected in the middle rounds just last year.<\/p>\n Las Vegas Raiders: There\u2019s no intrigue with their top pick, as Mendoza is expected to be a Raider soon after the draft begins. But how will the Raiders approach the rest of their draft? They have nine more picks and clearly have needs throughout the roster. But the biggest reason the Raiders remain intriguing is because of the Crosby factor. Given they had already agreed to trade him once, unless the Raiders become a winning team in short order, every roster checkpoint will include some level of Crosby speculation.<\/p>\n Baltimore Ravens: The Ravens had Harbaugh in place for almost two decades, so there was a level of consistency in what kind of players were valued in the organization and an understanding of the weight Harbaugh\u2019s voice carried in the decision-making process with personnel. Now, the dynamic is different with not just a new head coach but a first-time head coach in Jesse Minter. Expect Eric DeCosta to be under a spotlight as the franchise undergoes a major transition at the top, all while having a franchise quarterback in his prime. There\u2019s no margin for error as the expectations remain high.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NFL Draft is an event that brings all 32 fan bases to the table. Whether you\u2019re a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2065],"tags":[117,54,257,7,110,1744,393,2455,2454,251,56,255,6,57,525],"class_list":{"0":"post-871777","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-las-vegas-raiders","8":"tag-baltimore-ravens","9":"tag-cleveland-browns","10":"tag-dallas-cowboys","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","13":"tag-las-vegas","14":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","15":"tag-lasvegas","16":"tag-lasvegasraiders","17":"tag-miami-dolphins","18":"tag-new-york-giants","19":"tag-new-york-jets","20":"tag-nfl","21":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","22":"tag-raiders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116447701217002927","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}