New York

Giants

The NFL awarded a total of 35 compensatory selections to 15 teams in the 2025 draft, the league announced Tuesday.

The Vikings (97th overall), Dolphins (98th), Giants (99th), 49ers (100th), Rams (101st) and Lions (102nd) received third-round picks.

The Ravens, Cowboys and Dolphins received the most compensatory picks with four each, and the Chargers, 49ers and Seahawks each will have three additional selections.

The Bills, Browns, Chiefs and Raiders will get two compensatory picks each, and the Packers, Vikings and Giants will see an additional selection.

Under the rules for compensatory draft selections, a team losing more or better compensatory free agents (“CFA”) than it acquires in the previous year is eligible to receive compensatory draft picks.

The compensatory picks will be positioned within the third through seventh rounds based on the value of the compensatory free agents lost.

Compensatory free agents are determined by a formula based on salary, playing time and postseason honors. The formula was developed by the NFL Management Council.

In addition to 32 compensatory selections awarded under the net loss formula, a special compensatory selection was awarded to the 49ers, the Rams and the Lions under a 2020 amendment to the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. That agreement promotes equal employment opportunities and an inclusive workforce within NFL clubs, incentivizing teams to develop and promote minority talent for General Manager and head coach positions.

The following 2025 compensatory picks were awarded for the 2025 draft on April 24-26 in Green Bay:

On the surface, it’s good that the Steelers have a pair of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks on their radar for 2025. The problem, however, is that both options are getting closer and closer to the 19th holes of their careers.

With Aaron Rodgers emerging as the top choice to become the next Pittsburgh quarterback, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports this: “It’s possible Russell Wilson could return to the Steelers if ongoing discussions with Aaron Rodgers fail to result in a financial agreement, per multiple sources.”

On the surface, that’s a fairly obvious statement. Yes, it’s possible that a team with few other options will bring back its quarterback from 2024. Embedded within it is news: The Steelers and Rodgers are negotiating, with money currently a significant sticking point.

The Steelers could be expecting a sweetheart deal from Rodgers, given that there currently isn’t a 2012 Peyton Manning land rush for his services. It’s down to the Steelers or the Giants — with a weird, gnawing sense that the Vikings could be lurking.

Rodgers’s best chance to cap his career with a playoff berth (he hasn’t made it there since 2021) would come in Pittsburgh. Also, the fact that he gave up $35 million in his first year with the Jets might prompt the Steelers to at least try to squeeze him a little, or a lot.

Will threatening to bring back Russell Wilson make Rodgers blink? The Steelers, and everyone else, saw how that movie ended in 2024. It likely won’t get better with Wilson being a year older.

But what other leverage do the Steelers have? Mason Rudolph? (Maybe they can bring back Duck Hodges, too.)

A Rodgers-Steelers arrangement makes too much sense. It appears that, in the team’s view, Rodgers wants too much money.

Especially since he knows that the $33 million per year they’ll be paying to receiver D.K. Metcalf will be wasted if they don’t have someone who can get him the ball often enough and accurately enough to justify the investment.

There’s one fewer potential landing spot for Aaron Rodgers.

Currently, the future first-ballot Hall of Famer has two primary options — the Steelers and the Giants. From time to time, the Colts and Vikings have been mentioned as potential sleeper candidates.

Indy’s decision to add Daniel Jones seals off the Colts as a destination for Rodgers.

But it also could create an opening for Rodgers in Minnesota. The next step in the Brett Favre career arc depends on whether the Vikings would be willing to sit 2024 first-rounder J.J. McCarthy for another season while attempting a 2009 rewind with Rodgers, when Minnesota got as close to the Super Bowl as the franchise has been since 1976.

Rodgers, as we hear it, would like to play two more years. That likely wouldn’t happen in Minnesota, not with McCarthy on the roster.

So, yes, Pittsburgh and New York are the main locations. And Rodgers continues to be the next domino in the 2025 free-agent quarterback class.

After the 2017 season, the Vikings had three quarterbacks become free agents. None returned for 2018.

After 2024, it happened again. In less than a day, all three have found new homes.

Via multiple reports, Daniel Jones has agreed to terms with the Colts. It’s a one-year, $14 million deal.

On Monday, Sam Darnold agreed to terms with the Giants, and Nick Mullens reach an agreement with the Jaguars.

The low-money deal for Jones (relative to the current market) doesn’t scream “starter.” He’ll be competing with Anthony Richardson, based on comments made by G.M. Chris Ballard at the Scouting Combine. (It’s also impossible to rule out a Richardson trade at this point.)

Jones, a top-10 pick in the 2019 draft, earned a $40 million-per-year contract from the Giants two years ago. The team had a change of heart during the 2024 season, benching him to avoid an injury that would trigger a $25 million guarantee for 2025.

He finished the year on the Minnesota depth chart, taking a spot on the 53-man roster for the postseason. Now, he’s taking a spot on the Indy roster. With a chance to play, either if Richardson gets injured (again) or if he isn’t able to win the “open” competition that Ballard has promised.

The Giants are making another significant addition to their secondary.

According to multiple reports, they have agreed to terms with free agent safety Jevon Holland on Tuesday morning. It is a three-year deal worth $45.3 million and includes over $30 million in guaranteed money.

The Giants agreed to terms with cornerback Paulson Adebo on Monday and both players will feature prominently into their defensive plans for the 2025 season and beyond.

Holland was a 2021 second-round pick for the Dolphins and he started 58 of the 61 games he played in four seasons with the team. He closed out his run in Miami with 62 tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble in 15 appearances last season.