The 13-day detour that made Cam Ward the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft

The days in Jacksonville started the same for Cam Ward: throwing sessions from 8 to 10 a.m., a short break, then lifting until early afternoon. No classes, no distractions — just focused prep for the 2024 NFL Draft, surrounded by other like-minded future pros at a training academy. He was ready to be a pro.

Except, he couldn’t shake one thought.

“I just thought there was more out there for me in college,” Ward told CBS Sports.

Fifteen months later, Ward’s draft prep is finally complete — the Tennessee Titans made Ward the the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday night. 

Ward only stayed in the 2024 draft cycle for 13 days before pulling out to transfer to Miami, a decision that led to the Hurricanes’ first 10-win season since 2017 and launched Ward from fringe Day 2 prospect to the first player off the board Thursday night. 

Those 13 days—and the uncertain weeks around them—reshaped the 2024 college football season and rewrote the 2025 draft. This is the behind-the-scenes story of what happened during a two-week diversion in Ward’s path from zero-star recruit to No. 1 overall pick.

“I think coming back changed his career in a way I couldn’t put into words,” Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said.

When I reported in December of 2023 that Ward was entering the transfer portal after his junior season at Washington State, it came with a caveat: “He’s expected to keep his options open in terms of the NFL Draft.”

He did, indeed.

Ward’s family had gathered feedback about entering the draft following the 2022 season, which was Ward’s debut at Washington State after transferring in from FCS Incarnate Word. It was a strong consideration then, with the league placing a Day 3 grade on him, but Ward opted to return to college.

Following a scorching 2023 campaign with the Cougars — only Michael Penix, Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix threw for more yards per game — the Wards did not ask for additional feedback from the NFL advisory committee. Ward thought he’d improved on everything scouts wanted to see (cleaning up fumbles, playing more in structure), and even with potentially millions available as a college football free agent, the family thought the NFL made sense despite schools like Florida State, Miami and USC gauging his interest in playing for them. 

Ward wasn’t in a hurry to decide between the NFL and college even after entering the portal. He went through his graduation at Washington State and didn’t take a visit until Dec. 12, eventually making a Sunshine State swing to see Miami and Florida State just ahead of the NCAA dead period, which would cut off in-person communication with schools for the rest of the calendar year.

Then everyone waited … and waited … and waited. Initially, a decision seemed likely around Christmas. That didn’t happen. Then came New Year’s Eve and another period of silence.

Miami visited Kansas State QB Will Howard before Ward. The Hurricanes also had some interest in Mississippi State QB Will Rodgers. But they decided to go all-in on Ward, the player they believed could change their program following a disappointing seven-win season in Year 2 under Mario Cristobal.  

“I put all my eggs into Cam pretty early,” Dawson said. “I didn’t want to take anybody until he told me ‘no.’ But it just got strung out. At some point we were pot committed. I thought it was going to bite me in the ass.”

Eventually, with the portal set to close on Jan. 2 and the chance to find another option looking slimmer by the day, Miami gave Ward an ultimatum: Decide or we move on.

Decide, he did.

Sitting on a coach and staring into a camera on Jan. 1, Ward posted a five-second clip on social media at 10:46 a.m.: “What’s up, it’s Cam Ward. I’ll be declaring for the 2024 NFL Draft.”

He packed his bags and drove to Jacksonville two hours later.

Ward wasn’t locked into the draft, however. Unless he signed with a NFL agent, he had until Jan. 15 to officially place his name in the draft.

By forgoing signing with an agent by a few weeks, Ward’s family kept all options in play.

“We knew we had time,” Ward’s father, Calvin, said. “We didn’t have to hire an agent. If you don’t have to, then we’ll wait. We left the door open just in case.”

The doubts crept in for Ward rather quickly. Every day, he thought about returning to school. He loved college football. He felt like he had more to prove, but he also wanted to pursue his lifelong dream of playing in the pros. It’s a debate that raged in his head and in private conversations with his small circle for weeks. That mental battle did not lessen in Jacksonville.

Cam told his father one night at 3 a.m. that he still loved college football. Calvin lost sleep for days after that, wondering if his son was about to go down an NFL path he wasn’t ready for. 

Still, the door to college felt closed. Miami wasn’t in any real communication with Ward for a week or so after he declared for the draft. The Hurricanes moved on. They had no choice.

Miami tried to coax a veteran starter into the portal. That didn’t pan out. So, the Hurricanes went out and added Albany transfer Reese Poffenbarger, a highly productive FCS QB who brought a needed veteran presence to an otherwise young quarterback room.

Then Miami, desperate for a proven star for an otherwise championship-level offense, made an unusual play and went hard after the Big Ten’s all-time leading passer, Taulia Tagovailoa, who had entered the portal on Jan. 5 with a pretty big caveat that he was out of eligibility.

The Hurricanes helped Tagovailoa craft a waiver appeal based on the five games he played at Alabama during the 2019 season, which burned his redshirt. Tagovailoa played only two snaps in two of those games that year. Then-Alabama coach Nick Saban even wrote a letter of support for Tagovailoa, noting he’d made a mistake in inserting him into one of those games.

Tagovailoa visited the facilities, began learning the offense and made prepations to enroll. But Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich poured cold water on that idea by telling the staff the waiver appeal was going to fail. It was mid-January by that time, and the Hurricanes were out of options.

Needing a Hail Mary, Miami’s executive football director Dennis Smith called Ward on Facetime around 2:30 p.m. that afternoon. Calvin picked up. 

The fee to sign Ward began at $2 million and didn’t go up during renegotiations, according to sources familiar with the deal. Ward was comfortable with the offensive line and the skill talent he’d play with and figured it’d be a good place to raise his draft stock. Miami did have to convince its collective and boosters that $2 million would be worth it. Few players in CFB, even quarterbacks, made that kind of money before the 2023-24 winter portal cycle (now it would be considered a bargain of the cheapest degree). 

The details were worked out. Cristobal, Dawson and Smith gathered in Miami’s facility the evening of Jan. 13 and waited the social media post to hit. 

There were no words, just an emoji of a pen hitting paper and a graphic that read: “Committed to the 305.”

Ward once struggled to garner a single offer out of high school.

He didn’t get extended reps on varsity until his junior year at West Columbia High School in Texas. He played in a Wing-T system. Division II schools ghosted the family when seeking feedback about his process. Jimbo Fisher wanted him to walk-on as a tight end at Texas A&M.

It’s with that context Ward calls his senior year at Miami, where he played on the highest possible stage and went to New York City as a Heisman Trophy finalist, a “full circle” moment for his career.

And it all happened because of a feeling he couldn’t shake. 

“He’s always believed he was the first pick, that caliber of player,” Dawson said. “I believed it too. I told him from Day 1 that was our path, our goal to put enough stuff on film to silence all the doubters and get it to where you’re the first pick overall.”

There are no doubters any longer.

He’s made the ultimate football journey: From no stars to No. 1 overall.