The New England Patriots are at the mercy of the three teams that pick ahead of them in the 2025 NFL Draft. While New England will end up with an impactful player regardless, the hope is that the Pats wind up with one of Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter — the two most talented players in the draft class.
That's only possible if two quarterbacks are taken before the Patriots are on the clock. Miami quarterback Cam Ward already appears to be a lock for the No. 1 overall pick, leaving the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants as the two teams who decide New England's draft fate.
One of those teams now seems far less likely to draft a quarterback at the top of round one. Veteran quarterback Russell Wilson is signing a one-year deal with the Giants, presumably to be the team's starter. While this doesn't completely rule out a first-round quarterback for New York (look at the Atlanta Falcons last year), it makes it far less likely.
And if the Giants don't take a quarterback then the Patriots will just miss out on landing one of the top-two players in the NFL Draft.
Giants may have just killed Patriots' dreams of drafting Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter
There is still hope in the Cleveland Browns, who are not pot-committed either way in the NFL Draft. There is still a world in which the Browns take Sheduer Sanders and the Patriots get to draft whoever the Giants don't take with the third pick.
It seems unlikely that either Cleveland or New York would trade down in the draft. Sanders is not a good enough quarterback for a team to sell the farm to trade up and if the Browns were going to trade down, they would be doing so with a team that wants to draft Carter or Hunter with the second pick.
If the Browns also find a starting quarterback before the NFL Draft (Kirk Cousins is still an option!) then Patriots fans may have to kiss the dream of Hunter or Carter in Foxborough goodbye.
Unfortunately, that would put New England at a crossroads. Will Campbell is a talented offensive lineman but there are concerns about whether he can even be a tackle at the NFL level because of his size. Michigan's Mason Graham is a fun player but the Pats don't need to take an interior defensive lineman at four after signing Milton Williams.
Trading down may be the best-case scenario for the Patriots in this instance but even then, the drop off from Carter and Hunter would limit what the Patriots can get in return.
By signing Wilson, the Giants brought the Patriots' nightmare draft scenario much closer to reality. Perhaps the team will regret winning in Week 18 after all.