2025 NFL Draft: Most likely trade partners with Titans for No. 1 pick

If the Tennessee Titans are willing or even eager to trade the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, who are their realistic trade partners, and what might they get in return?

NFL teams are never more willing to overspend than to set themselves up to get a potential franchise quarterback. So if the Titans aren’t in love with their options, they’d benefit from trading down — maybe a little, maybe more — to get additional picks to help their franchise.

The No. 1 overall pick has been traded just once in the past eight drafts, and that was in 2023, when the Bears got a windfall from Carolina: receiver DJ Moore, the No. 9 pick and a second-rounder that year, what ended up being the No. 1 overall pick in 2024 (QB Caleb Williams) and a second-round pick this year. All for Bryce Young. 

Let the trader-upper beware, as they say.

Anyway, the post-combine draft talk seems to be that Miami’s Cam Ward might be a class above Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, which puts a premium on the No. 1 overall pick as perhaps the only one that gets you that guy.

If the Titans want to go the veteran QB route in free agency, they can trade down a little and still get one of the top defensive stars in this draft, or potentially a developmental quarterback they like.

RELATED: How Cam Ward’s unorthodox rise shaped him: ‘I’m not worried about no spotlight’

RELATED: Shedeur Sanders states case to be No. 1 pick: ‘I know what I bring to the table’

A minor digression: It used to be really cheap to trade up to No. 1 overall. Back in 1997, the Rams moved up from No. 6 to No. 1 to grab tackle Orlando Pace, and all it took were third-, fourth- and seventh-round picks. In 1995, when the Bengals traded up for running back Ki-Jana Carter (that didn’t age quite as well), they gave up the No. 36 pick, and that was it.

Tennessee would no doubt get much more in return. Here are the Titans’ most likely trade partners.

Trade partner: Cleveland Browns, No. 2 overall

You can basically throw out the old “trade value chart” when you’re at the very top of the draft. The market and demand there are unique to each draft and what the perceived drop-off is between the anointed quarterback and whatever is next best. So if the Browns want to make sure they get the quarterback they want, they can trade up a single spot, and the Titans drop to No. 2, knowing they still have their pick of any non-quarterback in the draft — or another QB. Given the past two years, with C.J. Stroud and Jayden Daniels going No. 2, it’s not a bad place to be.

Tennessee, mind you, could trade again from No. 2 — if there’s a team enamored with Sanders (or Ward, depending on who goes No. 1) and wants to make sure it gets ahead of the Giants at No. 3. Then the Titans could even deal down again, potentially even with the QB-needy Giants, and still have their pick of Penn State’s Abdul Carter or Colorado’s Travis Hunter.

Likely cost: The Browns give up No. 2 overall and their second-round pick, No. 33 overall. By the trade chart, Cleveland might even be able to get the Titans to throw them a late-round pick — we’ll say the extra fifth-rounder they got from the Chiefs for DeAndre Hopkins last season — as part of the deal.

Trade partner: New York Giants, No. 3 overall

There might be more leverage here, because the Giants know it’s unlikely they’ll get the top quarterback in this draft if they stay at No. 3 overall. And if there’s a perceived drop-off after Ward, anybody else will be seen as a half-measure, which gives little leeway when it comes to coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen keeping their jobs beyond 2025.

Having a New York team trade up for the No. 1 pick is an NFL dream, even if the draft will be held in Green Bay. The Giants get the excitement of a potential franchise quarterback, and maybe we stop talking about Saquon Barkley. Maybe. This feels like the spot where the Titans could best exact an overpay.

Likely cost: The Giants give up the No. 3 overall pick and their second-round pick, No. 34 overall. The wild card is what kind of 2026 pick they have to throw in to get a deal done. We’ll say their 2026 second-round pick (likely around No. 40-45 overall), but they might also have to throw in a mid-round pick (this year or next). New York’s goal would be to keep their 2026 first-rounder.

RELATED: Giants reportedly a threat to trade up for No. 1 pick in 2025 NFL Draft

Trade partner: Las Vegas Raiders, No. 6 overall

Here’s where it feels like more of a substantial trade down, because if you’re the Titans, you’re now passing on not only Ward, but also Carter and Hunter. Think of it as breaking a dollar bill — even if you get five quarters, it’s harder to appreciate it as a big win if there isn’t a big piece in the return. Then again, you can remember the Bears in 2023, and that future first-rounder that most people probably thought would be around No. 10 … turned out to be the No. 1 overall pick. Jackpot.

It makes sense that new Raiders coach Pete Carroll, who’s 73, wants to win now. That might mean swinging big for a veteran quarterback, though Las Vegas already missed out on Matthew Stafford. If the Raiders go with a rookie, Carroll will want to make sure he’s the best of the batch, which means trading up. Las Vegas makes sense as a team that’s struggled to find an answer at quarterback and would absolutely overspend if it were sold on Ward.

Likely cost: It’s getting expensive. The Raiders send the No. 6 pick and their second-round pick, No. 37 overall, plus next year’s first-rounder (probably still in top half of the round) and we’ll say next year’s third-rounder as well. The No. 6 pick carries about half the value of the No. 1 pick by most trade charts, so the rest of the compensation has to have some depth. Maybe Las Vegas can throw in tight end Michael Mayer, who’s cheap for two more years on a rookie deal and somewhat buried behind breakout star Brock Bowers.

Trade partner: New York Jets, No. 7 overall

The Jets made a solid hire in new coach Aaron Glenn and have a new general manager in Darren Mougey. But there’s still a gaping hole at quarterback, with big swings-and-misses both in the draft (Sam Darnold, Zach Wilson) and with a veteran like Aaron Rodgers. 

Would New York go all-in trying to find an answer this year, right now, as part of its rebranding?

The Jets don’t have a third-round pick because they gave it up for recently cut receiver Davante Adams, so any trade package has to start with their top two picks and next year’s No. 1, and that still feels light.

We’re not going to include any teams picking lower than seventh here. You could make a pitch for the Saints (No. 9) or the Seahawks (No. 18), but it feels like it would take too much and it gets into real long-shot territory.

Likely cost: The Jets give up the No. 7 pick and their second-round pick, No. 42 overall, and next year’s No. 1 — there’s lottery-ticket potential there — and we’ll say next year’s second-round pick. We’ll throw in second-year running back Braelon Allen as a sweetener. He just turned 21 and averaged 5.4 yards per carry as a rookie.

Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on X at @gregauman.

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