NFL Draft Rumors: Packers-CB buzz, Steelers-Aiyuk Plan B, NY Giants trade for QB

With the 2024 NFL Draft soon to take place, teams are making their final pushes and setting their draft boards to hopefully land their next star players. However, for certain teams, they have a tall order ahead of them addressing certain areas of need.

The Green Bay Packers need to address their secondary, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are looking for wide receiver help. They have an idea to bring in Brandon Aiyuk from the 49ers, but that is likely going to get shut down, meaning Plan B. Meanwhile, in East Rutherford, the Giants are looking for a new signal caller to replace Daniel Jones, whose tenure in Big Blue has left fans blue with misery.

Wait till April 25, there's bound to be a story that can take your breath away. Until then, here's a few nuggets that might be worth a look.

NFL Draft rumors: Packers linked to underrated yet inspirational CB Cooper DeJean

Right now, Mel Kiper Jr and Field Yates, two prominent draft analysts, view Iowa's Cooper DeJean as a premiere safety who can cover more ground and not have as much responsibility as a corner. DeJean has spent so much time at cornerback and during his tenure at Iowa, he was a Unanimous All-American in 2023 and was a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski and Jim Thorpe Award. He'd fit right in with how depleted the cornerback corps is for Green Bay right now.

Before going down with an injury, DeJean was one of the top prospects entering the 2024 NFL Draft. His ability to break on the ball while maintaining a physical presence in the secondary has caught the eyes of NFL scouts. It makes perfect sense why the Green Bay Packers are linked to DeJean via the Kiper/Yates mock draft. However, as stated before, his injury has several teams concerned.

Fracturing the right fibia is no ordinary injury, and the recovery time is rough. It can also explain why the chances of DeJean falling into the second round or early third round are high. Still, if Green Bay takes him in Round 1, there is a good chance they may get themselves a steal. Right now, the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears are going after quarterbacks. What's a quarterback's biggest issue? A heavy pass rush and a lockdown secondary.

Green Bay would be wise to invest here and give Jaire Alexander some help.

NFL Draft rumors: Steelers may lose out on Brandon Aiyuk, so what's Plan B?

Throughout their history, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been known to have a knack at finding wide receivers, regardless of wherever they pick in the draft. John Stallworth, Hines Ward, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and yes, Antonio Brown. Now, with Diontae Johnson out of the lineup and two new quarterbacks coming into the fold, the Steelers need new weapons on the outside.

There have been talks about the Steelers going after 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, but from the outside, it looks like the 49ers have no interest in moving the former 1st round pick. Not only that, but Aiyuk's agent debunked rumors that the wide receiver requested a trade. That means Pittsburgh needs to look for other options in the passing game, and thankfully, this year is loaded with them.

Steelers Depot's Ross McCorkle notes in an article that the draft has several options to work with. Options include Georgia's Ladd McConkey, Michigan's Roman Wilson, and Washington's Jalen McMillan, all of whom are exceptional route runners and have championship experience, something the Steelers desperately need at this point. Florida's Ricky Pearsall and USC's Brenden Rice can also be considered.

McConkey is likely a first-round pick and has two national championships under his belt during his tenure in Athens. Wilson made several highlight reel plays this past season for the Wolverines, none more critical than the catch against Alabama in the Rose Bowl that ultimately led to a win and a national championship. McMillan was part of a Washington offense that tore through college football en route to a national championship appearance. Rice is the son of a legend and Pearsall is a highlight machine.

All five can get the job done and would be quality players for Pittsburgh. But we'll see if the Steelers will target any of these wide receivers, or if they will even address the position at all in the draft.

NFL Draft rumors: Giants could move on from Daniel Jones, but who takes over behind center?

Despite flashes of potential, Daniel Jones has struggled with consistency and turnovers throughout his tenure, hindering the Giants and denying them postseason success outside of a miracle playoff victory over the Vikings. Not to mention that Jones has dealt with a variety of injuries, including last season where he suffered a neck injury, only to return and suffer a torn ACL in his first game back. That led to buzz of the Giants being "absolutely done" with Jones exiting the NFL Scouting Combine.

Several college quarterbacks have garnered attention as potential replacements for Jones.

In an ESPN Mock Draft, the Giants are predicted to land LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers in Round 1 and Oregon quarterback Bo Nix in Round 2 via a trade with the Tennessee Titans. It makes perfect sense.

Nabers has game-changing ability and would provide an instant boost to a Giants' offense that has no featured playmaker since Saquon Barkley departed for Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Nix would be able to come in and with his physical gifts and ability, would be a big upgrade for the Giants. The only issue is, the offensive line. The Giants need to fix that, or else nothing matters.

The issue is, the Giants traded their third rounder (No. 70 overall) in the mock draft to secure Nix, leaving just Nabers and Nix as the the only two players New York selects in the top 100 picks of this draft. With glaring questions still on the offensive line as mentioned before, notably right tackle Evan Neal, the adding of Nix and Nabers may create several flashy plays, but will be Nix be upright enough? Daniel Jones couldn't handle it, and the tape is out there.

Still, one can only hope that this time, Big Blue gets it right.