NFL Draft Rumors: Browns, Giants out on Shedeur, Raiders wild-card, Bills-Quinn Ewers

The 2025 NFL Draft is right around the corner and the rumor mill is heating up.

We generally know what's about to happen with the No. 1 overall pick. The Tennessee Titans will select Miami's Cam Ward as the successor to Will Levis, giving Brian Callahan the high-powered gunslinger his offense so desperately needs.

From there, it's pretty much a crapshoot. We may have an idea of what Cleveland, New York, and other teams near the top plan to do, but very little is set in stone. In what is widely considered a weak class, especially at the quarterback position, we should expect surprises aplenty.

The latest rumors center on Colorado's buzzy quarterback Shedeur Sanders, as well as a potential late-round sleeper connected to Josh Allen and the Bills. Let's dive in.

NFL Draft Rumors: Quinn Ewers emerges as potential Josh Allen backup for Bills

The Buffalo Bills are set for the foreseeable future at quarterback with Josh Allen, the reigning NFL MVP. Buffalo also has Mitch Trubisky, Mike White, and Shane Buechele on the roster behind him, so the backup situation appears settled.

And yet, there's nothing preventing the Bills from looking for a more sustainable backup option in this month's draft. There are benefits to growing a quarterback in your specific scheme, and Allen is as good a mentor as a young quarterback could hope for. That is why The Athletic's Derrik Klassen ($) believes Buffalo should target Texas Longhorns signal-caller Quinn Ewers.

"Ewers would bring functional athleticism and arm talent for Joe Brady," Klassen writes. "He still struggles with pocket presence and touch accuracy, especially down the field, but there’s enough talent there to mold a functional backup."

Ewers became something of a polarizing figure at Texas, largely because of his popular second-in-command. Arch Manning has been on radars forever. Folks want to see the talented Manning prodigy take off. That amplified Ewers' mistakes as the Longhorns' starter. He was productive as a junior, leading Texas deep into the College Football Playoff, but Ewers' lack of composure and turnover issues were a common sticking point for skeptics (and Manning advocates).

That said, as a late-round pick to mold behind Allen, the Bills could do worse. He certainly provides more long-term intrigue than Trubisky, who is pretty much unplayable in serious games.

NFL Draft Rumors: Raiders to meet with Shedeur Sanders as No. 6 pick looms

Shedeur Sanders remains one of the most mystifying evaluations ahead of next week's draft. He put together two impressive seasons at Colorado, guiding a historically bad program to new heights. He put up lofty numbers behind a flimsy offensive line and operated under unique pressure as the central focus of the Deion Sanders media machine.

That said, teams don't appear sold on him as a top-tier prospect. Sanders, who once felt like a top-three lock, is slowly slipping down a lot of projections. For all the praise he receives for his processing skills and accuracy, Sanders faces just as many questions tied to his lack of mobility or upper-echelon arm talent.

He has a chance to fall further than expected, which opens up all sorts of unconventional landing spots. Among them is the Las Vegas Raiders with the No. 6 pick. On the surface, Las Vegas doesn't need a quarterback after trading for Geno Smith and signing him to a hefty extension. If the Raiders want to establish the line of succession early, however, Sanders could benefit from a couple years as the understudy to such a smart, improvisational quarterback.

He is slated to meet with the Raiders on Monday, per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport.

Pete Carroll will become the oldest head coach in NFL history this season on his 74th birthday. The Raiders' timeline has accelerated dramatically this offseason with Tom Brady calling the shots, but Sanders could be a worthwhile investment in the long term.

NFL Draft Rumors: Browns, Giants out on Shedeur Sanders with top-3 picks

The Cleveland Browns and New York Giants are both logical landing spots for a quarterback, but neither team is expected to take Shedeur Sanders with their top-3 pick, per Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer.

"The Cleveland Browns and New York Giants look less likely to take quarterbacks in the top three," he writes. "As we detailed last week, New York has Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston signed to deals heavy on incentives tied to starting. Cleveland, meanwhile, has Kenny Pickett fighting for his viability as a starter, Joe Flacco arriving with designs on winning the job, and Deshaun Watson posting on social media that he shouldn’t be doubted."

This reads like a league-wide consensus on Sanders as a prospect. Both Cleveland and New York would probably select quarterbacks of a certain caliber, but teams clearly don't view him in the same way they viewed Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye a year ago. He might not even crack the Bo Nix, Michael Penix, J.J. McCarthy tier of optimism. After a historically populated QB class in 2024, teams are less enthused about the 2025 signal-callers, with Ward serving as the obvious exception as the projected No. 1 pick.

The Giants have two established vets in the QB room after signing Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, both of whom will earn their practice reps. Cleveland already has Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco, with Deshaun Watson still on the depth chart, too. There just isn't much space for a rookie quarterback unless there is immense confidence in not only his development, but also his ability to start out of the gate. Neither team wants to bury Sanders on the depth chart and derail his NFL career before it begins.