The 2025 NFL Draft is just around the corner, and with it comes the promise of hundreds of new players crossing over from the college game to football’s biggest stage. All 32 NFL teams are hoping to unearth stars of today and tomorrow. And yet, since the very first draft was held back in 1936, the annual event has proven to be something of a hit-or-miss affair.
Some teams whiff on top picks, swinging and missing despite having the first crack at “generational” prospects. Others strike gold, pairing high upside with the right circumstances to produce Hall of Fame-worthy playmakers, as the Kansas City Chiefs did with Patrick Mahomes back in 2017, when nine other players went before the future title-winning quarterback.
And then there are the curious cases of delayed stardom, when one team’s trash becomes another team’s treasure. In celebration of the 2025 draft’s final approach, we decided to focus in on this particular category, honoring active players who, in one way or another, found more success after leaving their original teams at the NFL level:
Drafted: No. 1 overall by Browns (2018)
Breakout season: Buccaneers (2023)
Mayfield was scrappy, if unsteady, in four years as Cleveland’s signal-caller, ultimately succumbing to shoddy protection before his unceremonious trade to the Carolina Panthers upon Deshaun Watson’s arrival in 2022. The former Oklahoma star had a cup of coffee with both Carolina and the Los Angeles Rams before rediscovering an authoritative play style as a low-cost Tom Brady successor in Tampa Bay, where he threw a combined 69 touchdowns from 2023-2024.
Drafted: No. 39 overall by Jets (2013)
Breakout season: Seahawks (2022)
It took Smith literally a decade before he proved himself starting-caliber, or at least found the right place to do so. Strong-armed but overly aggressive while trying to compensate for a lack of support in New York, he sat and learned as a backup in two other cities before finding coach Pete Carroll’s support in Seattle. No one truly anticipated Geno stepping in to replace Russell Wilson after the latter’s exit in 2022, but he did it with a surprisingly electric downfield arm.
Drafted: No. 2 overall by Giants (2018)
Breakout season: Eagles (2024)
No one ever doubted Barkley’s burst in New York, where the Giants saw him win both Offensive Rookie of the Year and essentially carry the club to a surprise playoff win in 2022. Injuries and contract disputes led to a breakup that felt inevitable following the 2023 season, however, and the ex-Penn State standout immediately produced one of the most prolific seasons of all time while wearing green, cruising past 2,000 yards all the way to a Super Bowl title.
Drafted: No. 51 overall by Titans (2019)
Breakout season: Eagles (2022)
Like Barkley after him, Brown was a bona fide weapon for his original team, twice topping 1,000 receiving yards to open his NFL career in Tennessee. He went from promising to downright spectacular after joining the Eagles, however, instantly elevating Jalen Hurts to MVP-level material and helping guide Philly to two Super Bowl appearances in his first three years on the new squad.
Drafted: No. 4 overall by Washington (2010)
Breakout season: 49ers (2020)
There were plenty of moments during Williams’ tenure in Washington when he lived up to his top-five billing at left tackle. He was a perennial Pro Bowler when San Francisco acquired him via trade in 2020. But injuries played a big part in his contentious relationship with Washington on the way out, and he settled in as an even sturdier blind-side blocker with the 49ers, becoming the catalyst of coach Kyle Shanahan’s seemingly quarterback-proof attack for multiple title bids.
Drafted: No. 77 overall by Jets (2012)
Breakout season: Saints (2018)
The hard-hitting Davis was an above-average starter for New York out of the gate, later spending one season as a Cleveland Browns rental in 2016. Yet things really took off for Davis as he approached and hit 30, becoming the tenacious heartbeat of Dennis Allen’s stingy Saints defense. Going on 36 and entering Year 14, he remains a standard-setter at the position.
Drafted: No. 74 overall by Saints (2020)
Breakout season: Eagles (2024)
Seen as an undersized pass rusher coming out of Wisconsin, where he also converted from quarterback, Baun started just 14 combined games in four years as a rotational piece in New Orleans. Then he met Vic Fangio, the battle-tested coordinator running the Eagles’ defense in 2024, and exploded as an off-ball regular. His sideline-to-sideline physicality and ball production, with six forced fumbles and three picks (including playoffs), set the tone for Philadelphia’s Super Bowl run.
Drafted: No. 33 overall by Cardinals (2019)
Breakout season: Vikings (2023)
Murphy was a borderline first-round talent coming out of Washington, and it was evident throughout four promising, if inconsistent, seasons with Arizona. His durability concerns evaporated in his debut under Brian Flores with Minnesota, however, and he became a master ballhawk, with a career-high six picks and 14 pass breakups to help guide the Vikings to the playoffs.
Drafted: No. 11 overall by Dolphins (2018)
Breakout season: Steelers (2019)
When Pittsburgh acquired Fitzpatrick for a package including a first-round pick during the 2019 season, plenty scratched their heads, wondering why the Steelers would buy high on someone Miami was so quick to dump. Then Fitzpatrick became opposing quarterbacks’ worst nightmare as a roaming cover man, racking up 17 picks over the next four seasons.
Drafted: No. 36 overall by Giants (2020)
Breakout season: Packers (2024)
New York got occasional big-play power from McKinney, the former Alabama standout, during the start of his NFL career, including a 2021 campaign that included five picks. Routinely sidelined due to physical ailments, however, he hit a new stride after relocating to Green Bay, snagging a career-best eight picks in a colorful Packers debut.
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