The first round of the 2026 NFL Draft is officially in the books. The night got off to a predictable start with the Raiders using the first overall pick on Fernando Mendoza, but that was about the only predictable thing that happened.
The Rams got a little crazy, the Bills decided not to make a pick in the first round and the Steelers thought they were drafting someone only to find out that he had already been drafted. That’s what kind of night it was for some teams.
There were plenty of winners during the opening round and there were also plenty of losers and we’re going to cover them here.
2026 NFL Draft essentials
Winners
Jeremiyah Love
The Cardinals new running back hasn’t even played a down yet and he’s already the highest paid running back in NFL history. At least in terms of guaranteed money. Love will be getting a fully guaranteed four-year, $53.9 million contract, which is the most guaranteed money ever given to a running back. Love’s total tops Saquon Barkley, who held the previous record at $36 million. Love will also make an average of $13.47 million per year, which ranks seventh in the NFL. Love is already getting top of the market money at his position and he hasn’t even attended his first practice. That definitely makes him a winner.
Howie Roseman and stealing from the Steelers
The Eagles general manager seems to come away as a winner every year and this year is no different. Not only did the Philadelphia land one of the best receivers in the draft in Makai Lemon, but the Eagles swiped him away from the Steelers in some Pennsylvania on Pennsylvania crime. At one point on Thursday night, Lemon was actually on the phone with the Steelers, who had the 21st overall pick, and he thought he was going to Pittsburgh.
Let’s let Lemon explain what happened.
What the Steelers didn’t know is that the Eagles were in the process of trading up from 23rd overall to 20th overall. Once the trade was finalized, that put the Eagles on the clock and they were able to take Lemon one pick ahead of the Steelers. By adding Lemon, that makes it seem like A.J. Brown is all but done in Philly. The Eagles have been busy adding receivers this year. Not only did they draft Lemon, but they traded for Dontayvion Wicks while also signing Hollywood Brown and Elijah Moore. That’s four receivers in six weeks that Philly has added. With those additions, the Eagles have put themselves in a spot where they now have more than enough depth on the roster to withstand the potential loss of Brown.
John Harbaugh
In his first draft with the Giants, Harbaugh hit a home run. First, the Giants had Arvell Reese fall into their lap at fifth overall. Reese was widely expected to be a top-three pick, but he dropped to the Giants, and now, he’ll be joining a suddenly scary defense in New York that also includes Abdul Carter, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux. The Giants also got Miami offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa at 10th overall. When you have a young QB, you have to do everything you can to help him and getting him some protection definitely qualifies.
Robert Saleh
The new Titans head coach got the best of both worlds on Thursday night by adding one solid player on both sides of the ball. With the fourth overall pick, the Titans added an offensive weapon for Cam Ward by drafting Carnell Tate. The Ohio State receiver will now join a Titans receiving room that also includes Wan’Dale Robinson and Calvin Ridley. After the Tate pick, the Titans traded back INTO the first round to grab Keldric Faulk. Saleh is a defensive-minded coach and it’s no shock that he ended up getting a defensive player in the first round. With the addition of Faulk, the Titans now have a totally revamped defensive line that should be able to bully opposing offenses. Faulk will be joining Jeffrey Simmons along with fellow Titans newcomers John Franklin-Myers and Jermaine Johnson.
The Browns
Look, we don’t really get to use the words “winner” and “Browns” in a sentence very often, so we’re going to do it here. The Browns front office, which has made plenty of questionable decisions over the years, continues to do an impressive job when it comes to drafting. Not only did they get their tackle of the future in Utah’s Spencer Fano, but they got him after trading down with the Chiefs, so they also added a few extra picks in the deal. The Browns then turned around and got a receiver at 24th overall in KC Concepcion. Last season, this team didn’t have a single wide receiver finish with more than 605 yards, so adding a top tier player at that position was a must.
Geno Smith
We’re about to find out if Smith actually has anything left in the tank because the Jets just surrounded him with some talented weapons. Not only did they grab the top tight end in the draft at 16th overall (Kenyon Sadiq), but they traded BACK into the first round so that they could take Indiana receiver Omar Cooper Jr. at 30th overall. If you throw in the fact that this team already has Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall, this is a Jets offense that could be sneaky good if Smith can still play at a high level.
Losers
The ‘F them picks’ philosophy
Now we know why the Rams don’t ever keep their first-round picks, it’s because they don’t know what to with them when they actually have one. OK, that’s a bit harsh, but the Rams definitely made the most puzzling move of the night when they selected Ty Simpson at 13th overall. The problem with this pick is that the Rams are a team that’s trying to win now and Simpson simply isn’t a player who’s going to help them win this year. This is a solid spot for Simpson, who will get to sit behind Stafford and learn from Sean McVay, but again, this feels like a pick where the Rams should have taken a player who will be able to contribute during the upcoming season. And call me crazy, but I think McVay might agree with me.
Since you mentioned it, let’s watch the presser.
Oh. That’s interesting.
Cardinals front office
The Cardinals have a lot of holes on their roster, but they ignored them all to draft Jeremiyah Love. When the Cardinals tried to call Love to draft him, they actually had the wrong number and I’m starting to thikn that maybe they should have just taken that as a sign not to take him.
Love’s definitely one of the most talented players in the draft, but he’s just not what the Cardinals need right now. When a bad team uses a high pick on a running back, it almost never works. Love 12th running back over the past 20 years to be taken with a top 10 pick. Of the previous 11, none of them won a Super Bowl with the team that drafted them. As a matter of fact, none of them even played in a Super Bowl. The Cards also gave Tyler Allgeier a two-year, $8 million deal. They have James Connor returning from injury. They have 2024 third-round pick Trey Benson, who has averaged 4.9 yards per attempt on 92 carries. And they also have Bam Knight. This team went 3-14 last season and they have holes all over the place. Adding a running back who will be getting $50 million in guaranteed money is not going to put them over the hump.
JJ McCarthy/Vikings
How did JJ McCarthy find himself in the losers section? Well, the Vikings used their first-round pick on Caleb Banks and before the draft, Banks said that McCarthy was the one QB in the NFL that he wanted to hit the most. That should make for a couple of awkward moments in the locker room. Minnesota is in this section as a team because taking Banks comes with some serious risk. The Vikings are getting one of the most talented defensive linemen in the draft, but he’s been injury prone. He suffered a foot injury at the combine in February that’s expected to sideline him until June, so he won’t be on the field for OTAs. Banks has been dealing with foot issues for more than a year now. The University of Florida star only played in three games last season after having surgery on his left foot, which is the same foot he injured at the combine.
Bills fans
The Bills weren’t scheduled to pick until 26th overall, so their fans had to wait all night until the team’s first selection, but then the pick didn’t happen because Buffalo traded back to 28th overall. After that, the wait continued for Bills fans, but then, they didn’t get to see a pick at 28, because the Bills traded back to 31. At that point, the patient Bills fans probably thought they were going to be rewarded with a pick, but then the Bills traded ENTIRELY OUT OF THE FIRST ROUND. That’s right, Bills fans sat through the entire first round got to see nothing.
Patrick Mahomes
The Chiefs had two first-round picks, so it would have made sense to add a weapon for Mahomes, but instead, they decided to use both picks on defensive players in cornerback Mansoor Delane and defensive tackle Peter Woods. That’s not to say that these picks won’t work out, but when you’re offense has been struggling and you have a starting QB who will be coming off a torn ACL injury, it would be nice to get him some help, but the Chiefs decided not to go that route.
Neutral
Jerry Jones
The Cowboys owner is both a winner and a loser. For their first pick, the Cowboys traded up one spot — from 12th overall to 11th — to grab Caleb Downs. The Ohio State safety was viewed by most as one of the best players in the draft and he fell into the Cowboys’ lap. Getting Downs was a great pick, and for that, Jones is a winner. At 23rd overall, the Cowboys got UCF defensive end Malachi Lawrence, but to make that pick happen, they had to make a trade with the Eagles. In the deal, Philadelphia moved up from 23rd overall to 20th overall to get Makai Lemon.
To rehash: The Cowboys made a deal with a DIVISION RIVAL, who then used the pick to get one of the best receivers in the draft. There is now a 100% chance that Lemon is going to put up huge numbers against the Cowboys every time he faces them. As we noted earlier, if the Eagles had NOT made the trade, then Lemon would have ended up going to the Steelers at 21st overall. So Jerry handed Lemon to the Eagles and now Philly is going to make lemonade out of the Cowboys. The moral here is that you should never make a trade with a division rival.
