Trading Back: What It Means
By Al Stahl
Let’s talk about trading back. What will it take to add a second round pick? Who could Detroit trade with?
Lions fans have been talking about trading back and gathering additional picks since the draft process began. It’s a yearly tradition that’s usually followed quickly by someone stating that “it’s easier said than done” or “it takes two to tango” which is true, if not completely played out. So Drafttek put together this nifty little chart. Essentially, it assigns a numerical value to each draft pick in order to calculate approximate trade value. I’m sure every team uses a chart that at least slightly varies from this one, but for the purposes of this article, this one will do.
Setting the Rules
I want to evaluate what the Lions can do to add an additional second round selection without having to trade away any other picks from rounds 1-4. I don’t think Bob Quinn would be willing to trade away those assets, but the extra fifth and sixth round selections are in play. The goal is to get the Lions four selections in the top 95.
Gaining a Second Round Pick
In order for the Lions to stay in the first round while also gaining an additional second round pick, they’ll have to trade down at least eight spots. That’s where the Bengals select. Honestly, the Lions would come up a little short on the trade, meaning they’d need to sweeten the deal with a future selection or a player on the roster since they wouldn’t have the value to cover the difference without throwing in their fourth rounder. It’s possible Quinn could include the fourth round pick with the plan of moving back into the fourth round by trading away fifth rounders, but Quinn strikes me as the kind of guy who wants more picks, not less.
Would the Bengals do it? Maybe. It’s possible they’d be willing to trade up in order to jump Houston and Minnesota, taking their pick of the top receivers. It’s probably more likely that if they’re trying to trade up ahead of Houston and Minnesota, they’d do it with Buffalo, New York or Washington who all pick from 19-21. The only way I see this happening is if one of the receivers goes before Detroit is on the clock. That might entice Cincinnati to jump up a little higher to ensure they get their guy.
Who Else?
Pittsburgh, Seattle and Kansas City are three other options. The value fits a lot better with these three teams, but the need may not line up. Maybe if one of these teams really likes OLB Leonard Floyd and he’s on the board, they may be willing to move up ahead of Atlanta to snag him. Other scenarios that may make one of these teams swap picks with Detroit would include a run on cornerbacks where maybe Hargreaves and Jackson are gone but Apple is still on the board or if there’s a defensive lineman who slips to 16 like Buckner or Billings, though there’s an admittedly small chance of that happening.
The other side of this to consider is do the Lions want to trade down that far? If they’re looking to add another second round selection, they don’t really have a choice.
Is There Anyone Else? Anyone At All?!
Denver and Carolina. Although you don’t usually see Super Bowl contenders trading draft stock to move half way up the board in the first round. The only outside possibility would be Denver trading up for a quarterback like Paxton Lynch or Connor Cook. The reason that’s unlikely is that there isn’t anyone they’d need to move that far up to jump. Maybe the Jets at 20? The Texans at 22? It doesn’t make sense for the Broncos to move all the way up to 16 to jump those teams.
All things considered, it would be a tall order for Detroit to trade down and add a second round pick. Here’s one last trade scenario to consider though if Floyd is still on the board at 16: Indianapolis jumping Atlanta by swapping picks with Detroit. Indy would also swap their third round pick for Detroit’s fourth round selection. It’s not a second rounder, but it gets Detroit four selections in the top 95.
What do you think? Do you have any promising trade scenarios to offer? Hit us up on Twitter @SideLionReport and @LethalSax and give us your best and most likely trade partners.