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With the 2025 NFL Draft rapidly approaching, quarterback-needy teams are internally debating whether they should draft a player like Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders, or Jaxson Dart in the first round, or if they can wait until the second round, when a player like Tyler Shough or Jalen Milroe could be available.
With as many a half dozen teams fighting for maybe four players who could reliably start games this season, one popular scenario discussed by fans of the Cleveland Browns, the New Orleans Saints, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and both New York teams, the Jets and the Giants, is trading up with the Kansas City Chiefs or the Philadelphia Eagles to select their preferred player at the end of the first round, all the while securing a fifth-year option on the most expensive position in sports.
Discussing how the Eagles could use their first-round pick with Jimmy Kempski of Philly Voice, NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah noted that a team may be willing to pay a premium to secure that fifth-year option if it's for a quarterback, which could be beneficial for a GM like Howie Roseman who wants more assets.
“That's an interesting way of looking at it. Yeah, I've never thought of it from that standpoint of having to pay a premium, but yeah, it's a good point. It makes sense. I try and reverse-engineer it. When you talk to agents, and none of them want to go with a 31st or 32nd pick, so that's usually a sign that there is a pretty good advantage in the fifth-year option in terms of the team side. So, yeah, with a quarterback specifically, just wanting some cost control there. I think it makes a lot of sense,” Jeremiah told Philly Voice.
“I mean, I don't think you're paying a steep premium, but if that goes from one of the secondary picks being a fifth-round pick instead of a sixth-round pick, I think you could probably pull that off if you are one of the teams in the 30s of asking for that because of the value of the extra year. So I don't know that at other positions it's quite as important, but I think the quarterback numbers have just gotten so astronomical that if you are able to actually hit on the guy, that extra year is pretty important. So, yeah, I think that's fair. I've never thought about the premium side. That's a great point. Yeah, if I was Howie Roseman, I might ask for a little extra sugar on top.”
Will an NFL team like the Eagles or Chiefs consider making a deal with a QB-needy team, especially if it sticks it to a QB-needy team in their division in the process? While only time will tell, if the offer is right, a Super Bowl team may opt against selecting in the first round entirely if it means a better opportunity on Days 2 and 3.
