Top NFL Pros Shine Brightest as Draft Day Heat Builds!

NFL free agency has moved at a furious pace in 2026, as many of the top talents on the market agreed to lucrative contracts during the league's "legal tampering" window. With a good chunk of free agency now in the books, NFL fans can start turning their attention more toward the 2026 NFL Draft . The moves that unfolded in free agency will surely have an impact on the draft.

For example, two of the top projected teams for Jeremiyah Love – the New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs – signed veteran running backs to big contracts during the offseason. That, coupled with numerous players rising in the weeks after the NFL Scouting Combine , will certainly shake up the projected order of the draft's first 32 selections. USA TODAY Sports compiled the latest projections for the first round with the first wave of free agency in the books.

See what USA TODAY Sports' Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz , CBS Sports' Josh Edwards and Pro Football Focus' Max Chadwick have in their latest mocks: 2026 NFL mock draft roundup mid-free agency Here's how NFL draft experts project the first round will play out with NFL free agency ongoing: 1. Las Vegas Raiders USA TODAY Sports: QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana CBS Sports: QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Pro Football Focus: QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana USA TODAY Sports: "Mendoza, a rhythmic and clean distributor, sizes up as a nearly ideal trigger man for new coach Klint Kubiak's system. The fallout from the Crosby trade's dissolution could be far-reaching, but Las Vegas still has ample resources with which to enact its offseason transformation.

" Pro Football Focus: " You can just about write this one in pen. Mendoza enjoyed a dream season at Indiana, posting a perfect 16-0 record, helping the program claim its first national championship and becoming the school’s first Heisman Trophy winner. " 2.