NFL owners to vote on this kickoff change, plus breaking down Giants' draft options with the third pick

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Welcome to the Thursday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!

The 2025 NFL Draft will be kicking off four weeks from tonight, which means we have officially entered smokescreen season, which is a time when even smokescreens can be smokescreens. What I think I'm trying to say here is that you shouldn't believe any draft rumor that you read over the next four weeks unless you wrote it yourself, and even then, you should still be skeptical.

With draft season in full swing, we'll be covering several draft-related topics today, including what the Giants should do with the third overall pick. We'll also be breaking down the proposed rule changes that the competition committee is making for the 2025 season.

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1. Competition committee reveals several rule proposals for 2025: Here's what you need to know

The NFL rulebook usually undergoes a few changes every offseason and it looks like there could be some big ones heading into 2025. The competition committee has unveiled several proposals that will be voted on at the NFL's annual league meeting next week.

Here's a look at the most notable proposals from the committee, starting with the new kickoff:

Make the new kickoff permanent. The NFL made one of the most dramatic rule changes in league history last year when the dynamic kickoff was approved. The rule was approved on a one-year trial basis, but this year, the competition committee is proposing to make the rule permanent.
Touchbacks would get moved out to the 35-yard line. Under last year's rule, the touchback was at the 30-yard line, but under with this proposal, the touchback would be moved to the 35-yard line. The idea here is that it would discourage the kicking team from simply booting the ball out of the end zone on a kickoff knowing that the return team will automatically get the ball at the 35-yard line. Getting the ball at the 35 is huge, because that means a team would need to gain just 20 to 25 yards to get into field goal range. The league's internal data shows a 65% to 75% return rate if the touchback is moved to the 35, more than double the rate in the 2024 season. That stat comes from our Jonathan Jones and you can check out his full story on the proposed change here.
There could be a slight change to the onside kick. During the 2024 season, we didn't see very many onside kicks and that's because the rules for attempting one were strict: Only a team trailing in the fourth quarter could attempt one. Under this proposal, a team can attempt an onside kick at any point in the game as long as they're trailing, so if this proposal passes, onside kicks won't be limited to the fourth quarter. This proposal would also change the alignment requirements for the kicking team on the onside kick, which would theoretically make the kick easier to recover.

In non-kickoff news, the competition committee also had one other big proposal:

Replay assist might be able to help with other penalties. If a flag gets thrown, replay assist can have that flag waved off if replay shows that the officiating crew was wrong. Under this proposal, the four new penalties that could be overturned are: Hitting a defenseless player, horse-collar tackle, tripping and roughing/running into the kicker. One notable aspect of this proposal is that replay assist will not call penalties that weren't flagged on the field. For instance, if an obvious face mask is missed on the field, replay assist can't go back and tell the referee to throw a penalty on the play. However, if a face mask flag is thrown on a play where the face mask wasn't actually grabbed, then replay assist can step in to have the flag picked up.

As for whether we'll see any changes, each rule would have to be approved by 24 of the 32 owners before it can officially be added to the rule book for the 2025 season. Each of these rules will be voted on at the next league meeting, which runs March 30 to April 2 in Palm Beach, Florida. We also saw several teams offer a few rule proposals last week and if you need a quick refresher on those, you can check them out here.

2. Who should the Giants take with the third overall pick? Ranking their best options

Less than a week ago, the Giants only had one quarterback on their roster and that was Tommy DeVito. At that point, it looked like a near certainty that New York would end up taking a quarterback with the third overall pick in the draft. However, that might not be the case anymore after the Giants went out and signed Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston in a span of five days.

With Winston and Wilson now on the roster, the Giants definitely don't have to take a quarterback with their first-round pick. So what are their best options? Jordan Dajani broke down what the Giants should do at third overall and here are their two best options, according to Jordan.

1. WR/CB Travis Hunter (Colorado): "Hunter is CBS Sports' No. 1 player in the entire class. When you win Big 12 Defensive Player of the year AND the Fred Biletnikoff Award, it's hard to argue otherwise. ... I'm very aware Hunter won't be a full-time starter at cornerback and wide receiver, but imagine him as a full-time wide receiver that's sprinkled in as a cornerback on third downs or goal-line situations. That's an attractive possibility. "
2. EDGE Abdul Carter (Penn State): "The pass rusher position is not the biggest need for the Giants, but the Penn State quarterback terror is arguably the best player in this class. There's a reality where the Titans select Ward at No. 1 and the Browns take Sanders at No. 2, opening the door for New York to take the first non-QB."

So, who else would make sense for the Giants? You can check out Dajani's full list here.

3. Vikings confirm they had talks with Aaron Rodgers

The Vikings took themselves out of the Aaron Rodgers sweepstakes last week and if you're wondering why, we finally got some answers. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah met with the media on Wednesday and he shared some interesting information.

Here are a few of the biggest nuggets:

Why the Vikings didn't sign Rodgers. "We didn't think it was the right move at this time," Adofo-Mensah said. "It is also his decision whether he signs with another team. ... [but] for me to sit here and say anything's 100% forever, that's just not the job. So obviously things can change." Based on that comment, it sounds like the Vikings will be keeping the door slightly open to possibly talk again with Rodgers at some point down the road if he doesn't end up signing with another team.
Vikings are hoping J.J. McCarthy is ready to start. McCarthy revealed this week that the team hasn't told him whether he'll be the starter in 2025, but despite that, it's pretty clear they WANT him to start, they just need to know if he's ready. "That's the outcome we want, and that's the outcome we're headed towards," Adofo-Mensah said of McCarthy possibly starting, via NFL.com. "At every checkpoint, whether it's been the draft process or practice until the injury or really the offseason now, he's met the bar, he's exceeded our expectations at every point."
Vikings will almost certainly be adding another QB. Right now, McCarthy and Brett Rypien are the only two quarterbacks on the roster and neither of them took an NFL snap last year, so it makes sense that Minnesota wants to add a veteran. The Vikings had talks with Ryan Tannehill and although nothing has developed there just yet, Minnesota is definitely in the market for a veteran QB. "We're always going to keep looking to see if we can upgrade that position, just like every other position," Adofo-Mensah said.

You can check out our full story on the Vikings here. As for Rodgers, it seems like he's down to two options: Sign with the Steelers or retire.

4. Ashton Jeanty landing spots: Will Boise State running back go in the top 10?

It's not often that we see a running back get taken in the top 10 of the NFL Draft. Although it happened four straight times from 2015 through 2018, NFL teams don't seem to view the position with as much value anymore, and because of that, we've only seen one running back selected in the top 10 over the past six drafts (Bijan Robinson went eighth overall to the Falcons in 2023).

If there's a year where we're going to see a running back go in the top 10, this would seem to be it. Jeanty is coming off one of the greatest seasons in college football history, a season where he rushed for 2,601 yards, which was the second-highest total in NCAA history. The most impressive part about Jeanty's season is that he ran for 1,970 yards AFTER contact.

So will he get taken in the top 10? Doug Clawson came up with some possible landing spots for Jeanty and two of those teams will be picking in the top 10.

Raiders (Sixth overall pick). "A couple weeks before acquiring Geno Smith, Pete Carroll pointed out the need to improve the Raiders' run game in order to help the quarterback position when he said, 'As Coach [Bill] Walsh said a long time ago, it's the hardest position in professional sports to play. We need to do everything we can to facilitate and make it as easy as possible for that guy. So that's why the running game is so fundamental to it.' Carroll is no stranger to having a physical presence like Jeanty in the backfield, either. The Seahawks had the highest run-call rate (44%) in the NFL and averaged the second-most rush yards per game (135.2) during Marshawn Lynch's six seasons with Carroll from 2010-15."
Bears (10th overall pick). "The Bears rushed for 102.0 yards per game (25th) and need to surround last year's No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams with as much talent as possible. Chicago already did an excellent job overhauling the offensive line around Williams after hiring head coach Ben Johnson, and nobody knows the importance of running quite like Johnson. He was the offensive coordinator in Detroit when the Lions were the last team to draft a running back in the first round, pairing 12th overall pick Jahmyr Gibbs with former Bear David Montgomery."

If you want to read more about Jeanty, you can check out Doug's full story here.

5. JJ Watt headed to the announcer's booth for CBS Sports NFL coverage

After two years as a studio analyst on "The NFL Today," JJ Watt is making the move to the announcer's booth.

Here's what you need to know about the changes that will be going down starting with the upcoming NFL season:

Watt is teaming up with Ian Eagle. The five-time All-Pro will partner with the Emmy Award-winning Eagle to form the No. 2 NFL announcing team here at CBS Sports. Watt seems pretty excited about the fact that he'll once again be in a stadium on NFL game days. "There is nothing better than the energy and excitement of being in the stadium on game day in the NFL," said Watt. "I couldn't pass up the opportunity to return to that atmosphere each week, working with one of the best in Ian. While I certainly miss delivering hits on the field, it will be nice to leave the stadium without taking any, unless Ian decides to try something crazy."
Why Eagle suddenly needed a new partner. Don't worry, no one got fired. CBS Sports lead college football analyst Gary Danielson announced on Wednesday that he's going to be retiring following the 2025 season. With Danielson on his way out, Charles Davis was tabbed to take over his spot starting with the 2026 season. Davis had been working as Eagle's partner for the past five NFL seasons, but with Davis soon to be headed to the college ranks, that opened the door for Watt to make a move to the announcer's booth.

If you follow Watt on social media (or watch him on CBS), then you know that he's one of the most entertaining guys on television. The man is as good on TV as he was on the football field, which is saying a lot, considering he's a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

You can read our full story on Watt's move here.

6. Extra points: Russell Wilson expects to be the Giants' starting QB

It's been a busy 24 hours the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.

Russell Wilson not planning to sit on the bench in New York. Wilson didn't sign with the Giants to sit on the bench. During an interview on Wednesday, the veteran quarterback made it clear that he expects to be the starter in New York. You can read his full comments here.
Titans sign veteran QB. For the second time in less than two weeks, the Titans have signed a veteran quarterback. The team added Tim Boyle on Wednesday in a move that came just 12 days after they signed Brandon Allen. Based on these moves, it seems pretty clear that Tennessee is going to draft a QB and it would be a shocker if it's not Cam Ward. If you want to know how this signing could impact their draft plans, you can read more about that here.
Bills are getting a movie on the Hallmark Channel. Last year, the Chiefs got a movie on the Hallmark Channel and they rode that momentum all the way to a Super Bowl appearance, so this year, the Bills are going to try doing the same thing. The movie, which will be called, "Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story," will be hitting the Hallmark Channel at some point during the holidays this year.
Orlando is wooing the Jaguars. The Jaguars' stadium will soon be undergoing renovations and when that happens the team will be leaving Jacksonville for one full season, which will happen in 2027. The city of Orlando is trying to woo the Jaguars by offering a $10 million bid to host the team. Right now, it appears that the Jags are trying to decide between playing in Orlando or in Gainesville at the University of Florida's home stadium for the 2027 season.