The NFL’s Kickoff Gamble, a Draft-Day Sleeper, and Who Could Still Get Paid | 4 Downs

Kickoff Rule Fallout, NFL Draft Trade Freeze, and a TE Flying Up Boards

I really think this year’s NFL Draft starts with the New York Giants.

If chalk holds, and the Titans do what teams who don’t have a quarterback typically do, and take Miami’s Cam Ward, there’s little reason to think the Browns will do anything other than select Abdul Carter, plant him opposite Myles Garrett, and round out what could prove to be not only a race to the quarterback each defensive snap but a race to Defensive Player of The Year in 2025.

This is where things get interesting.

New York sent virtually its entire front office and offensive coaching staff, including Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll to Colorado’s NFL Showcase last week, telegraphing significant interest in both quarterback Shedeur Sanders and electrifying wide receiver Travis Hunter.

This is also where narratives converge.

There is zero chance that either Russell Wilson or Jameis Winston are the Giants’ answer at quarterback beyond 2025. There is also little reason to believe that owner John Mara will judge Schoen and Daboll by any metric other than wins and losses this fall.

So, will the Giants do what’s in the best interest of the long-term competitiveness of the franchise and take a quarterback such as Sanders to develop, even if that means not playing him early on to appease Wilson and justifying spending upwards of $21.5 million on the former Super Bowl winner? Or, will all of the screaming from sources around the league that the Giants’ plan is to add talent around Wilson come to fruition leading to a receiving duo of Malik Nabers and Hunter possibly dragging this team closer to .500 with Wilson behind center?

Beyond New York, teams seem to have a decent chance of marrying a top prospect to their roster’s best need for the next handful of picks or so, but Sanders slipping beyond the Giants creates plenty of intrigue both in terms of how far he might slide or whether a team will overpay in current and future draft capital for the privilege of trying to mold him into a franchise quarterback.

Inside this column; a special teams coach dishes on the impact of the NFL tweaking the dynamic kickoff rule while offering his own alternative, a look at one of the more fascinating—and rising tight ends in a deep class at the position, what I’m hearing from sources on potential draft night trades, and a game of matchmaker with the top remaining free agents.

Let’s get after it …

First Down: NFL Special Teams Coach Weighs in on Changes to Kickoff Rule

The most polarizing rule to emerge from the 2024 NFL season is back for 2025.

While the tush push lives, for at least another couple of weeks, the dynamic kickoff rule is back, albeit with a few tweaks following this year’s NFL Annual Meeting in West Palm Beach.

Under the new 2025 rules, touchbacks will come all the way out to the 35-yard line, which should incentivize teams to kick into returns rather than trotting their kicker out to boot the ball through the back of the end zone. According to ESPN, just 32.8 percent of kickoffs were returned at all in 2024.

I spoke to an NFL special teams coach who doesn’t think that the league went far enough in changing the play.

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