2015 NFL Draft: Every team in the top 10 will trade their pick (or not)
Trades happen in the top 10 every year and every team this year could trade their pick, except maybe the Buccaneers.
The NFL Draft always features trades, but it's the ones featuring top-10 picks that really become defining moments for franchises. Make the right move in a blockbuster trade and a team can set itself for long-term success, but end up on the losing end and picking in the top 10 could become a frequent theme for years to come.
With one day before the beginning of the 2015 NFL Draft, trade rumors are aplenty, but parsing the false information from the true can be difficult.
Still, there are some teams that could benefit from a trade, while others might be better served by hanging on to their selection. Every team in the top 10 could end up swinging a trade, but if there’s one team that is unlikely to do so, it’s the owners of the No. 1 pick:
Never say never, but in this case, it would be shocking if the No. 1 pick changed hands. Jameis Winston is considered a lock to be the first player off the board at this point and a gigantic offer would have to come out of left field for the Buccaneers not to hang on to the top pick and snag Winston.
The Buccaneers have spurred on chatter that there are teams interested in acquiring the No. 1 pick, but the safer bet is to assume that Winston ends up in Tampa Bay.
Likelihood of Buccaneers trading: 0.1/10
Assuming Winston is off the board after the first pick, there’s only one top-flight quarterback left on the board before a significant drop-off to the rest of the passer options and that’s Marcus Mariota. If the Titans don’t want to keep Mariota for themselves, there are plenty of reasons to believe that a quarterback-needy team could swing a trade with Tennessee to go up and get him.
The Cleveland Browns, St. Louis Rams, San Diego Chargers, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets are all potential suitors -- the Browns even reportedly offered the Titans their two first-round picks. So it certainly appears as though the market will be there for the Titans if the team doesn't keep Mariota for themselves. That said, just because the market appears to be there, it doesn't necessarily mean it actually is.
Likelihood of Titans trading: 6/10
The Jaguars are in year three of a patient rebuild that many are optimistic about, so the addition of more value with a trade down is a scenario that makes plenty of sense. The problem for Jacksonville is figuring out why any team would want to come up to No. 3 if both of the top two quarterbacks are already gone.
Perhaps a team would want to nab a player like Amari Cooper or Leonard Williams before the Oakland Raiders get a sniff at them, but the most realistic scenario for a trade involving the Jaguars likely requires Mariota on the board at No. 3. There haven't been much rumblings about the Jaguars talking trade, but since the Dave Caldwell era began, there haven't been many rumblings of anything from Jacksonville, who consistently surprise on draft day.
Likelihood of Jaguars trading: 2/10
4. Oakland Raiders
Just like the Jaguars, there are plenty of advantages for a young, rebuilding team like the Raiders to trade down and acquire more picks. But like the Jaguars, there isn’t a ton of incentive for a team to leapfrog higher in the draft order if neither of the top two quarterbacks are on the board.
Regardless, the Raiders are reportedly interested in sliding down a bit in the draft order and teams moving up are hard to predict. If given the opportunity to slide down, the Raiders have enough holes in the roster to still feel a significant need a few picks later and get some more picks to work with.
Likelihood of Raiders trading: 2/10
5. Washington
While Washington faces many of the same dilemmas that the Jaguars and Raiders do in finding a trade partner, they benefit a little the No. 5 pick being less expensive to deal for and from picks No. 3 and 4 potentially thinning a team’s options and forcing them to trade up.
New general manager Scot McCloughan said he’d love to turn the team’s seven draft picks into 10 or more via trades, and there’s no better way to do that than deal the team’s most valuable pick.
Likelihood of Washington trading: 3/10
6. New York Jets
Many expect the Titans to look to trade back and, among their potential trade suitors, the Jets would have the smallest distance to travel to acquire the No. 2 pick. If the team is ready to move on from Geno Smith as its starter, Mariota is an option that wouldn't be that expensive to acquire, all things considered.
A trade down isn't out of the question for the Jets either, if another team comes calling when they're on the clock. Throw in the fact that Muhammad Wilkerson could be thrown in as a chip for a bigger trade, and there's reason to highlight the Jets as a possible team that will strike a draft day deal.
Likelihood of Jets trading: 3/10
As always, never say never, but for the Bears, there really isn’t much need for a trade. Most mock drafts have the team snagging a wide receiver with the No. 7 pick and the Bears should be fine snagging either Amari Cooper or Kevin White when they’re on the clock. Even if both receivers are gone, the Bears have plenty of needs and it would only push a good player down the board to them.
Unless a blockbuster deal involving Jay Cutler is brokered, the No. 7 pick likely stays in the hands of the Bears.
Likelihood of Bears trading: 1/10
With so many rebuilding teams looking to potentially move down, there should be trade partners available to the Falcons, who are reportedly looking to move up. With former Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn now running the show in Atlanta, it would make sense for the team to do whatever is necessary to snag an elite pass rusher for the team to build its defense around.
Picks three through five all appear to be on the market, so the Falcons might get a cheaper price if the team chooses to move up, which is a strategy the franchise has used often. Atlanta jumped a staggering 21 spots from No. 27 to No. 6 in 2011 to grab Julio Jones and bumped up from No. 30 to No. 22 in 2013 to take Desmond Trufant.
Likelihood of Falcons trading: 4/10
Mock drafts for the Giants have been boring because week after week it has featured the first offensive tackle off the board. Most of the time that is Iowa’s Brandon Scherff. It’s a move that makes so much sense and even if the Giants don’t end up snagging Scherff, another offensive tackle like Andrus Peat is the likely alternative.
A trade offer could always dissuade the Giants from hanging on to the No. 9 pick, but getting the top offensive tackle in the draft class that late in the top 10 is a great scenario for New York and the team likely stays put if things play out as planned.
Likelihood of Giants trading: 1/10
10. St. Louis Rams
SB Nation’s Dan Kadar summarized the situation for the Rams at No. 10 in his latest mock draft:
Trade this pick! Trade this pick! Trade this pick! Whether it’s moving up for Mariota or down to accumulate more selections, 10 is just the worst for St. Louis.
Like the Jets, the Rams are a team where a trade in either direction makes plenty of sense. Retooling the St. Louis offense is a priority, and there just isn’t expected to be much value when the 10th pick rolls around. Of course, swaps and surprises in the top 10 could change that, but the Rams are a team that makes sense for dealing.
Likelihood of Rams trading: 4/10
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