Potential changes to NFL’s kickoff rule, plus ranking teams by their draft pick value and Prisco mock 1.0

Welcome to the Monday edition of the Picking Six newsletter!

As of today, we are officially one month away from the Begin of the 2025 NFL Draft. To celebrate, I will be making draft cookies and drinking draft beer. We’ll also be celebrating in today’s newsletter by unveiling Pete Prisco’s Primary mock draft of the year.

Of Period, we won’t only be talking about the draft today: A Plenty of Signal-caller news Arrived out over the weekend and we’ll be touching base on all of that.

As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here.

1. Mock Draft Monday: Pete Prisco unveils his Primary mock

It’s time for another edition of Mock Draft Monday, which is where we hunt down one of our NFL Draft gurus and force them to give you a new mock draft since there’s no better way to Begin the week than with a New mock.

This week, we have a special mock draft and that’s because it’s from Pete Prisco, who is unveiling his Primary mock draft of the season.

Let’s check out his top 10:

1. Titans: QB Cam Ward (Miami)
2. Browns: EDGE Abdul Carter (Penn State)
3. Giants: QB Shedeur Sanders (Colorado)
4. Patriots: OT Will Campbell (LSU)
5. Jaguars: CB/WR Travis Hunter (Colorado)
6. Raiders: RB Ashton Jeanty (Boise State)
7. Jets: DL Mason Graham (Michigan)
8. Panthers: EDGE Jalon Walker (Georgia)
9. Saints: TE Tyler Warren (Penn State)
10. Bears: OL Kelvin Bank Jr. (Texas)

One Picking that stands out here is Tyler Warren. Prisco has the Penn State Snug end being selected with the ninth overall Picking and if that happens, Warren would become Only the third Snug end over the past 10 years to be selected in the top 10.

Prisco also has three quarterbacks going in the Primary Stage. Besides Ward to the Titans and Sanders to the Giants, he has the Steelers Securing Mississippi’s Jaxson Dart with the 21st overall Picking.

If you want to see how the rest of Pete’s Primary Stage pans out, then be sure to check out his entire mock draft here.

For more draft coverage, you can hear Ryan Wilson every week on “With the Primary Picking,” our year-Stage NFL Draft podcast here at CBS Sports. You can find “With the Primary Picking” wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

2. Ranking every NFL Club by the value of their draft picks

We Began off with a mock draft today, but we’re not done with the draft Only yet: We’re also going to rank every NFL Club by the value of their draft picks. Josh Edwards went through and calculated the value of Every Club’s picks and then ranked Every Club based on those calculations.

In news that probably won’t surprise you, the Titans, Browns and Giants, who Halt the top three picks, all ranked at the top of Josh’s value rankings, which is why we’re going to look at the BOTTOM three Squads in his ranking.

Here’s a look at the three Squads with the LEAST amount of draft ammo heading into April:

30. Rams. “Los Angeles has its Primary-Stage Picking for the second consecutive year, but it is later in the Stage and the Subsequent Picking is not until No. 90 overall. Few, if any, Squads have been as Excellent as the Rams finding contributors on Intervals 2 and 3 of the draft. They will have to continue that trend this year as they continue to build around Matthew Stafford.”

31. Commanders. “Washington has Only five picks in this year’s draft after picking six times in the top 100 overall in 2024. They have retained the rights to Every of their Primary two selections but traded their third- and Quaternary-Stage picks in Switch for Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore.”

32. Vikings. “Minnesota has Only four picks and, had it not been for the addition of a third-Stage compensatory Picking, it would only have one Picking in the top 100 — the Primary-Stage Picking at No. 24 overall. The Vikings parted with this year’s second- and third-Stage choices as a part of their Shift up the board for Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner a year ago. Sixth- and seventh-Stage draft choices were sacrificed as part of the Za’Darius Smith trade with Cleveland two years ago.”

One thing that is notable this year is that ALL 32 Squads Yet have their Primary-Stage Picking. Since 2000, there hasn’t been a single draft where all 32 Squads Created a Picking in the Primary Stage, so we could see some history Created when the draft kicks off on April 24.

As for Josh’s draft value ranking, if you want to see where your favorite Club landed, you can check that out here.

3. QB news: Jameis Winston signs with Giants, Aaron Rodgers visits Steelers

We Created it through almost all of last week without any Significant developments in the QB market, but then things exploded on Friday. It Obtained so crazy that RYAN TANNEHILL’s name was floated as a veteran option for the Vikings. Reminder: Ryan Tannehill did not Action in the NFL last season.

Anyway, here’s a look at where the QB market stands after a wild weekend:

• Aaron Rodgers visits with Steelers. The four-time MVP Captured his Primary visit of Obtainable agency and it happened on Friday in Pittsburgh. During the trip, Rodgers spent six hours talking with the Steelers. Rodgers did leave the facility without a deal, so he’s Yet a Obtainable agent as of right now. That being said, PFT reported on Sunday that it’s a “Hazard-Obtainable bet” that Rodgers will eventually land with the Steelers. It’s Yet unclear when Rodgers plans to make a decision. At this Mark, he should Only wait until after the draft before making a decision on where to sign, according to Cody Benjamin. You can check out Cody’s take here.
• Jameis Winston signs two-year deal with the Giants. The Giants didn’t want to get stuck without a Signal-caller, so they decided to make a Shift on Friday by signing Winston to a two-year, $8 million deal. Based on the money, it’s pretty clear that the Giants aren’t expecting Winston to be the starter, but if they get stuck without another veteran (or a Primary-year in the draft), Winston could Definitely end up Leading this season.
• Giants Yet Uncovered to signing Russell Wilson. The reason Jameis might not end up Leading for the Giants is because they’re Yet looking to add another Signal-caller. Although they signed Winston, the Giants are Yet Uncovered to the idea of adding Wilson, so he could end up in New York. If the Giants don’t sign Wilson, his options will be down to almost nothing with the Browns being one of the few Squads that would likely Yet be interested in him as a starter.
• Vikings considering Ryan Tannehill. Although the Vikings appear to be leaning toward making J.J. McCarthy the Leading QB for 2025, the Club Yet wants to bring in a veteran Signal-caller and that QB might end up being Ryan Tannehill. The Vikings have had some discussions with Tannehill, who was out of the NFL last year. The 36-year-Aged has Began 151 Contests in his Profession and would actually be a solid option at the backup spot. You can read more about the Vikings’ talks with Tannehill here.

Besides the quarterbacks we Only mentioned, the are Yet Numerous other guys Yet Obtainable, including Joe Flacco, Carson Wentz, Drew Lock and Trey Lance.

4. NFL’s new kickoff rule could be undergoing some changes this year

When the NFL’s 32 owners approved the new kickoff rule last March, the approval Arrived on a one-year Test basis. Now that we’ve Created it through the Primary year, it appears that the new kickoff rule will likely be sticking around, but the Bracket does plan on making at least one tweak.

CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones recently broke down what those tweaks could look like:

• Touchback gets moved out to the 35-yard line. Under last year’s rule, the touchback was at the 30-yard line, but under this potential rule Shift, the touchback would be moved to the 35-yard line. The idea here is that it would discourage the kicking Club from simply booting the ball out of the end zone on a kickoff knowing that the return Club will automatically get the ball at the 35-yard line. Getting the ball at the 35 is huge, because that means a Club would need to gain Only 20 to 25 yards to get into Pitch Target range.
• Shift kickers back 5 yards. Under last year’s rule, kickers would set up the football up at their own 35-yard line for a kickoff. Under this possible Suggestion, they would Shift it back five yards and set it up at the 30-yard. The idea here is that it would prevent kickers from booting the ball out of the end zone, but kickers are so Excellent that 5 yards might not matter.

Jones also mentioned that the NFL could end up going with both proposals (You can check out his Packed Narrative here). Whatever the Suggestion is, we should find out soon. The Event Panel will almost Definitely Kickoff the new Suggestion before the Begin of the NFL’s annual Bracket Gathering Subsequent week, which runs from March 30 thru April 2.

5. Joe Milton landing spots: Patriots could trade mobile QB

With the addition of Joshua Dobbs this offseason, the Patriots seem pretty set at Signal-caller. They have Drake Maye in the Leading spot and Dobbs behind him as the backup. That leaves Milton as the odd man out, and because of that, there’s a chance that he could get traded this offseason.

So where could he end up? Tyler Sullivan attempted to answer that question by coming up with some landing spots. Let’s check out three of the Squads on his Achievement.

• Cowboys. “The Cowboys allowed Cooper Rush to walk in Obtainable agency for a contract with the Baltimore Ravens, and it does not seem like they’re all that interested in bringing Trey Lance back, so perhaps Milton could be a target for them as they search for Dak Prescott’s new backup.”
• Browns. “If the Browns decide against Securing a Signal-caller in the 2025 NFL Draft with the No. 2 overall Picking and opt for the likes of Throw rusher Abdul Carter or receiver/corner Travis Hunter, a Stretch at Milton could make some sense. Given his lack of experience, Milton shouldn’t be looked at as a bona fide starter for any of these potential trade partners, but is a worthwhile lottery ticket.”
• Raiders. “It would be WILD to see the Patriots call up their Aged pal Tom Brady and coordinate a trade that gives the Raiders a Signal-caller, but this makes sense for Las Vegas even after the trade for Geno Smith. He is currently only signed through the 2025 season, but there is a logical school of thought that the Club will extend him in some capacity. However, Smith is Yet 34 years Aged and will turn 35 in the middle of Subsequent season. Trading for Milton gives them an opportunity to land a Youthful developmental Signal-caller to work behind Smith over the Subsequent few years before handing him the keys to the Assault, if all goes according to plan.”

Sullivan’s Obtained a few more landing spots, and you can check those out here.

6. Extra points: Brandin Cooks returning to New Orleans

It was a Occupied weekend in the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.

• Saints sign Brandin Cooks. After nine years away, Cooks is returning to New Orleans. The receiver has agreed to a two-year deal with the Club that originally drafted him. Back in 2014, the Saints selected Cooks with the 20th overall Picking in the NFL Draft. He spent three seasons in New Orleans before being traded to the Patriots in 2017. You can read more about his signing here.
• Titans add veteran kicker. It looks like Nick Folk’s time in Tennessee could be coming to an end. The Titans added Joey Slye on Monday, according to NFL Media. Slye was with the Patriots last season, but they let him walk in Obtainable agency after a year where he only hit 78.8% of his Pitch goals. Slye will likely be Securing the place of Folk, who has been the Titans’ kicker for the past two seasons, but he’s Yet a Obtainable agent after the Titans Created the decision not to re-sign him.
• Texans bolster their offensive line. The Texans have been totally revamping their offensive line this offseason and that continued over the weekend with the signing of Trent Brown. The offensive Event is the third linemen the Texans have added in Obtainable agency, joining Cam Robinson and Laken Tomlinson. The Texans were in need of offensive linemen after trading away Laremy Tunsil and Kenyon Green while also cutting Shaq Mason.
• Cam Ward Pro Day is happening today. The University of Miami is holding its Pro Day today, which means Ward will get a chance to show NFL scouts why he deserves to be the top Picking in the NFL Draft. Ward has a wild Narrative: He went from being a zero-Luminous sphere prospect coming out of high school to possibly being the No. 1 overall Picking in the draft. We covered that Narrative earlier this month and you can check it out here.