2024 NFL mock draft: How the first round could shake out for all 32 teams

The first major waves of free agency have subsided, leaving behind value veteran contracts for teams to fill the needs they couldn’t shore up with the big-money contracts.

But for some teams – including the Houston Texans – the NFL draft will be where they find their next star that they couldn’t or didn’t want to pay for during free agency. Houston will have to wait until the second round, though, after the Texans traded their first-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings for a second-round pick this year and another one in 2025.

For the rest, the first-round is rife with talent to fill positions of need in the NFL. Free agency validated the first few picks, so not much will change early in this mock. But after around pick No. 6, things get a little more interesting …