The Tennessee Titans have the top overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, which is now less than a month away. NFL Insiders, analysts, and experts are constantly releasing new mock drafts and updating their predictions with the latest information.
ESPN's Bill Barnwell does a fun mock every year that is nothing but trades. Every pick in the first round ends up being traded to a different team, and this year the Titans managed to orchestrate a three-team trade that sends Kirk Cousins to Nashville from Atlanta.
Titans get: 1-2, 3-67, 2026 second-round pick (from Browns), QB Kirk Cousins (from Falcons, with cash considerations)Falcons get: 2026 seventh-round pick (from Titans)Browns get: 1-1, 2026 sixth-round pick (from Titans)
Most years with this piece, the first paragraph you read after the trade details for the top pick is an apology. Because no, that trade usually is never going to happen. Most years, there would be something like Brock Purdy for the first overall pick here, serving as more of a thought exercise than a plausible deal. Things aren't quite as clear in this draft.The Titans appear to be leaning toward drafting a quarterback, given their only addition under center this offseason has been veteran Brandon Allen. Cam Ward (Miami) seems to have separated himself from Shedeur Sanders (Colorado), but it's tough to find a consensus in the league that he's anything close to a no-doubt solution. There are superstars available at critical positions elsewhere in this draft, and the Titans aren't one player away from competing.
This is only a snippet from the comments Barnwell had on the situation, and he reiterates at the end how unlikely it is that the Titans even trade the first pick. But if they do -- and they still might -- then this one wouldn't be a bad way to go.
They would get a veteran quarterback in Cousins, who is capable of leading an offense, they'll still get the second pick in the draft where they can select Abdul Carter, and they gain a third-round pick, something they don't have right now.
While the majority of the signs indicate that the Titans are going to keep the top pick and select Cam Ward, Barnwell is correct that the Titans aren't just one player away from competing.
Chad Brinker and Mike Borgonzi both know this, which is why they continue to say that they're open to trading that top pick. The likelihood that they trade out of that spot is slim, but the possibilities a trade opens up are still worth looking at.
This article originally appeared on Titans Wire: Titans land Kirk Cousins as part of 3-team trade in Bill Barnwell mock
