And just like that, the 2026 NFL Draft is at its conclusion. So, now what? Well, now it's time to digest all the madness that just ensued.
In any given draft, there are jaw-dropping moments, and that certainly was the case here in 2026. In the first round, the Los Angeles Rams pulled off one of the early stunners by selecting Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. Meanwhile, Howie Roseman, as he often does, made multiple trades throughout the weekend to improve the Philadelphia Eagles roster, and the Arizona Cardinals made a couple of selections that left most evaluators scratching their heads.
Of course, there are loads of opinions, and we use this space to sort through some of the main narratives. We comb through some of the notable takes from the weekend and determine whether they are overreactions or worth taking at face value.
Once we get to training camp, one of the biggest storylines in the NFL becomes the upcoming quarterback battle in Cleveland. However, a little wrinkle was thrown into that battle at the draft with the Browns selecting Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green atop the sixth round. While Green likely won't factor into the competition to start Week 1, he is another body in a growing quarterback room. And he is a quarterback, despite speculation that NFL teams could move him to receiver.
"He's playing quarterback," Browns GM Andrew Berry said of Green, via NFL Media. "He's playing quarterback."
So, that means the Browns now have four quarterbacks on the roster: Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson, Dillon Gabriel, and Green. It seems unlikely they carry four into the 2026 regular season, so someone will likely be shown the door, whether by release or trade.
If we assume that they keep Green as a developmental third-stringer (given that they just drafted him), it comes down to Watson, Sanders, or Gabriel. Watson is in the final year of his mammoth contract and has a dead cap hit of $131.1 million, which likely rules him out from releasd. That means it could come down to Sanders or Gabriel, and the latter could be the most at risk. After all, Sanders did take over for Gabriel in the second half of last season.
Of course, Green could be moved to the practice squad and make it easier for Cleveland to keep all three veterans. That said, something will need to give here, and it could result in the departure of one of the Browns' 2025 draft picks, making this a fascinating story to monitor later this summer.
One of the biggest jaw-dropping moments of the draft occurred when the Los Angeles Rams used the No. 13 overall pick to select Alabama's Ty Simpson. As you might expect, there were plenty of opinions surrounding this pick, especially when it looked like Sean McVay was less than thrilled with the selection (which he has since explained/walked back).
Regardless of McVay's reaction, the rest of the NFL world seems pretty divided on Los Angeles' approach here. On the one hand, they give themselves an heir apparent to Matthew Stafford, who is entering his age-38 season. On the other hand, Stafford just won NFL MVP, and the Rams are firmly in the Super Bowl conversation for 2026. They could've brought in a player at another position to help push them over the top in that pursuit.
While I understand that logic, this was the correct move for the Rams. Given how talented they are, they shouldn't be this high in the draft for a while, so they may not have another opportunity to bring in a talent like Simpson. Moreover, L.A. could've looked at this pick as a luxury, especially after using their other first-rounder (No. 29 overall) to acquire corner Trent McDuffie, a move that certainly helps the 2026 squad.
Simpson is the ideal prospect to bring in and develop behind Stafford, as he only has 15 collegiate starts under his belt. Now, he has the time to hone his craft without the pressure to start right away. Whenever Stafford decides to hang it up, they now have a talented player waiting in the wings.
Fernando Mendoza may have heard his name called first at the draft, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the new Raiders quarterback will be the first rookie signal caller to become QB1 for his franchise. That distinction could belong to Carson Beck, the third-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals.
Throughout the pre-draft process, Mendoza was the consensus No. 1 overall pick, which gave insight into how Las Vegas plans to proceed with him. New coach Klint Kubiak has been on record saying that you "ideally" wouldn't want a young quarterback to start on Day 1, and that "you'd love him to be able to learn behind somebody." They gave themselves that flexibility by signing veteran Kirk Cousins.
If they follow that plan, Mendoza could sit behind Cousins as he continues to develop. This is a prudent approach with the franchise's most important asset.
As for Beck, he could be thrown to the wolves sooner rather than later. The Miami product doesn't have nearly the upside that Mendoza has, as evidenced by being a mid-Day 2 pick as opposed to the first overall selection. That said, the Cardinals don't have a ton of options at quarterback, with Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew as the two notable veterans. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Arizona leans towards Beck early to see what they have in him. The 24-year-old started in 43 games over the last three seasons between Georgia and Miami, so he has plenty of playing experience.
Jacksonville didn't make a pick in the 2026 NFL Draft until No. 56 overall in the second round. That's because they shipped out their first rounder during last year's trade up to select Colorado do-it-all talent Travis Hunter. At the time of his selection, the thought process was that Hunter was worth two first-round picks because of his ability to play both wide receiver and corner at a high level. While that worked in college, it's proven to be far less feasible in the NFL. In fact, the Jags appear like they're throwing out the possibility of Hunter playing both ways altogether.
The plan is to make Hunter a full-time corner and occasionally work him in on offense, NFL Media reported earlier this month. This comes after Hunter suffered a knee injury that cut his rookie season short. Looking at Jacksonville's actions at the draft, double-dipping at wide receiver on Day 3, along with trading for Jakobi Meyers midseason and extending him, the blockbuster trade of last draft is beginning to age like milk.
Will they or won't they? The status of Kayvon Thibodeaux and his future as a member of the New York Giants had been up for debate throughout the draft. Even leading up to the festivities, the pass rusher was on shaky ground, and once the team selected Ohio State's Arvell Reese with the fifth overall pick, it felt like Thibodeaux would be the odd man out. As rumors started to pick up that he could be on the trade block, Thibodeaux himself added gasoline to the speculation with what appeared to be a goodbye post to the Giants on his social media.
Kayvon Thibodeaux’s IG story. Yeah he’s gone ☹️ pic.twitter.com/l6z9ug0kDp