NFL Draft Week Buzz
- Draft-week rumors say A.J. Brown will not attend Eagles workouts and the Giants are less likely to trade Kayvon Thibodeaux. (nfl.com) - ESPN’s Jordan Reid published a full seven-round mock predicting all 257 picks ahead of Thursday night. (espn.com) - Beat reporters and trackers like SNY and The Athletic suggest team flexibility and trade chatter could reshape early-night selections. ( )
The 2026 National Football League draft is two days away, and the loudest draft-week signals are about veterans as much as rookies. (nfl.com) NFL.com reported Monday that Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown is not expected to attend the start of the club’s voluntary offseason workout program, while New York Giants edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux is now viewed as less likely to be traded and is set to play 2026 on his $14.751 million fifth-year option. (nfl.com) Those rumors landed after the Giants already made the week’s biggest move, sending defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals for the No. 10 pick. ESPN and NFL.com both reported the trade, which gave New York two top-10 selections at No. 5 and No. 10. (espn.com) (nfl.com) That is the backdrop for Thursday night in Pittsburgh, where Round 1 starts at 8 p.m. Eastern on April 23. The draft runs through April 25, covers 257 picks, and the league shortened the first-round clock from 10 minutes to eight minutes this year. (nfl.com) (operations.nfl.com) Las Vegas holds the No. 1 pick, and ESPN’s Jordan Reid projected Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza there in a full seven-round mock that covered every selection from No. 1 through No. 257. Reid wrote that he did not project trades, even though he said league conversations pointed to “surprises and intrigue.” (espn.com) (nfl.com) The Athletic’s live draft tracker said Tuesday that Mendoza “appears to be headed to Las Vegas with the first pick,” but framed the rest of the top of the board as unsettled. That matches the broader draft-week pattern: confidence at No. 1, then a lot of calls, contingencies, and competing reads. (nytimes.com) Around the Giants, the question is no longer only who they take at No. 5. With the Lawrence trade adding No. 10 and NFL.com reporting the Thibodeaux market has cooled, New York has more room to draft for need, move around the board, or keep its edge rusher and reload elsewhere. (nfl.com) (nytimes.com) Around the Eagles, Brown’s expected absence from voluntary workouts keeps trade speculation alive even before commissioner Roger Goodell opens the draft. ESPN’s draft page and other draft-week trackers have treated Brown as one of the league’s biggest unresolved veteran storylines entering Round 1. (nfl.com) (espn.com) By Thursday night, the draft board will still start with college prospects, but this week’s clearest lesson is that front offices are using veteran contracts and roster disputes to reshape the first round before the first card is turned in. (nfl.com) (espn.com)
