The NFL draft begins Thursday night in Green Bay. The 2025 draft consists of seven rounds with the first two taking place on Thursday, the next three on Friday and the final four on Saturday. Teams are allowed to trade up or down in any round but must still select one player per pick.
The top pick is widely expected to be Miami quarterback Cam Ward, who is considered the best overall player in this class. But outside of Ward, many draft experts are split on who will go where at the top of the first round. Some believe running back Ashton Jeanty from Boise State, defensive tackle Mason Graham from Ohio State and linebackers Shedeur Sanders and Abdul Carter from Penn State are the best options.
Teams that made the playoffs have the lowest pick in each round, while those who didn’t qualify are ranked by their record in reverse order with the Super Bowl winners picking last. If a team’s regular season and playoff record are identical, tiebreakers such as division or conference championships are applied.
The league also awards up to 32 compensatory picks. These are assigned to teams who lose certain free agents based on a proprietary formula that considers salaries, playing time and postseason honors. These are awarded at the end of each round and, for the 2025 draft, are added after standard compensatory picks have been awarded. As of this writing, the San Francisco 49ers have three compensatory picks due to losing cornerback Da’Shawn Hand and defensive end Leonard Floyd in free agency.