Trading down

Let's talk draft day trading this morning. It seems to be a fairly popular option among Rams fans as evidenced by the poll on your right and our community discussion of the first round pick a week ago.

There's enough information, factual and anecdotal emerging to assume that a trade for the Rams is at least a very distinct possibility. In a Friday blog post recapping his AM 1380 interview with Billy Devaney, the new Rams player guru said that he expected to get calls before and up to draft day from teams interested in moving up to the second overall pick. Notably, Devaney said that they will listen to all offers.

Yesterday, Peter King at Sports Illustrated took a look at some of the recent past's more active trading teams with a concentrated number of picks on the first day. The team that should stand out for Rams fans is the Cowboys, whose owner Jerry Jones is reportedly dying to get Razorback rusher Darren McFadden.  

McFadden should be an easy get with the second overall pick and the Cowboys have what might be of interest to the Rams with two first rounds picks, 22nd and 28th. A swap of those two picks for the Rams second pick doesn't quite even out points wise. The 2nd pick is worth 2600 points, and the 22nd pick and 28th pick are worth 780 and 660, respectively. That's a net difference of 1160 points, meaning the Cowboys would likely have to sweeten the pot with a player on their roster or another pick. If they manage to sign Pacman Jones, maybe they'd have some interest in putting a CB in the deal. That's neither here nor there; for the sake of argument here, let's just assume the Rams would get a player that at least fills a depth need with this trade scenario.

That's a big trade down, and it means the Rams would not get a Vernon Gholston, Chris Long, Glenn Dorsey, and any of the other guys meriting top pick consideration. It would, however, give the Rams three picks concentrated in a potentially rich area of the draft, 22nd, 28th and their 34th overall pick, which essentially becomes the first pick of the second round since NE forfeited their 31st pick thanks to gratuitous videotaping.

With that grouping, the Rams should be able to fill several positional needs from among the draft's elite prospects. They could take a CB, an OT and DE like Quentin Groves. Or, depending on whether or not they get a player from Dallas in such a trade, they could make a WR one of those three picks.

That's one draft day trade possibility.

The Chiefs need o-line talent...badly. They covet Jake Long, but know he probably won't be there with their 5th overall pick. The Chiefs and Rams could swap the 2nd and 5th picks, and to even things out getting the Chiefs to throw in their second round pick, 36th overall, would almost even it out points wise. The Rams should be able to get Vernon Gholston with the fifth pick and another high pick int he second round should net them another blue chip prospect ready to play in 2008.

The scenario with the Chiefs makes the most sense, in that the Rams still get one of the home run picks they're looking for early in the draft, while adding another high second round pick. You have to wonder if all the hype the team is giving Jake Long doesn't have some ulterior motive...

The scenario with the Cowboys is intriguing because it could potentially add a lot of talent to the team with one swoop. Losing the home run potential you get from a top five pick causes the most hesitation.

It's a lot to think about.