Abdul Carter has a subtle message for NFL teams before Draft ’25

It seems like Abdul Carter believes that he has a real shot at becoming the first overall pick of the upcoming NFL draft in April. On Friday, the Penn State defensive end took to his X account to apparently signal his wish or expectation to become the draft's first overall pick.

"😁☝🏾," Carter wrote.

The first overall pick of the draft is held by the Tennessee Titans, with analysts still debating what kind of player the franchise would want to select. Some expect them to pick a new quarterback, likely Miami's Heisman Trophy finalist Cam Ward, while others see them picking a defensive player and sticking with Will Levis as signal-caller for the time being.

Colorado's Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter (the reigning Heisman winner) also seem to be on the Titans' radar. There's also the possibility of them trading their valuable pick.

Will the Tennessee Titans draft Abdul Carter or someone else?

The Titans are playing their cards close to their chest, certainly looking to confound their rivals as to their target. While the Titans could pick whoever they like regardless, this strategy allows them to be more ambiguous as to the real value the first overall pick has for them.

This would be useful to extract concessions from other teams if they decide to trade. They could even get the player they want in the second, third or lower pick and also get further picks from the team that trades with them.

During the NFL Combine, general manager Mike Borgonzi kept their intentions under wraps, just signaling they wish to go through the entire process before deciding:

"We have to go through this process here. So, this is like one touch point in the process. We've gone through the whole evaluation part. Now we're finally getting to sit down and meet with these guys and talk with them. We'll have pro days, we'll have (top 30) visits. We have to go through the whole process really to make that decision."

Of Abdul Carter in particular, he said:

"Abdul is a very good player, I don't want to go into many evaluations of the players, but there are certainly some players at the top that fit that description of generational talent."

Cam Ward remains the favorite to become the first pick of the 2025 NFL draft, with odds of -220. However, Abdul Carter is a close second with odds of +200, according to Fox Sports.