Jerod Mayo fuels NFL Draft rumors by calling Commanders a wild card

While everybody and their brother knows the Chicago Bears are taking Caleb Williams No. 1 overall out of USC after trading Justin Fields away to the Pittsburgh Steelers, our focus is now on what the Washington Commanders and New England Patriots are going to do at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Despite strong indications both clubs will take a quarterback as well, they could be up to something.

A lot of attention has been placed on the Patriots picking at No. 3 as a potential trade-back candidate. They could move down to the early teens, possibly even back up to No. 4 or No. 5 in a second trade with either the Arizona Cardinals or the. Los Angeles Chargers. However, new Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo wants us to put the focus on what Washington is doing with the No. 2 pick.

He met with the media at the NFL's annual meeting in Orlando to explain his team's draft process.

“I think everyone knows what Chicago is going to do at 1. But the rest is up in the air.”

Here is the money quote in which Mayo puts all the focus on Washington at No. 2, and not his team.

“I don’t think anyone in here really knows what Washington’s going to do. And when you see these other teams making moves, acquiring pieces to move, we could sit here and say Washington today, [then] that could be someone else on draft day.”

Here is Mayo's entire press conference from Orlando over on the Patriots' official YouTube page.

I don't know if this is entirely intentional, but great job by Mayo in putting all the focus on Washington.

Jerod Mayo labels Washington Commanders as ultimate draft wild card

After figuring out ways teams like Minnesota, Las Vegas and Denver can deal for the No. 3 pick, Mayo reminded me once again that we have no earthly idea what the Commanders are planning to do at No. 2. Ideally, they would take their preference between LSU's Jayden Daniels or North Carolina's Drake Maye, but some teams have that insatiable J.J. McCarthy infatuation that cannot be explained.

New England should be in on all three of those quarterbacks, but must wait and see what Washington does first. If they stand pat, they are going to have their choice between two of the three. The question is how they have Daniels, Maye and McCarthy stacked on their big board. Not only that, but can they conceivably get any of those guys, along with some additional compensation to move back?

To me, I think logic will prevail for all three teams picking at the top of the 2024 NFL Draft. The first three picks will be Williams to Chicago, followed by Daniels and Maye to Washington and New England, in some order. After that, Arizona will have a tough decision to make. Do the Cardinals stay put to take Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. or could they move back in a deal for McCarthy?

Give Mayo a ton of credit for driving more mystery around what the Commanders could do at No. 2.