2016 NFL Draft: Teams That Might Trade Up In 1st Round

As with every year, the 2016 NFL draft is driving its excitement through trade talk.  Fans love it when their teams are involved in trades, increasing the idea of it being the high-stakes poker game they love so much.  So far this year, most of the talk has surrounded teams wanted to move back in the 1st round like Tennessee, San Diego and Dallas.  However, in order for them to move back there are teams that have to want to move up.  So that begs the question.  Are there any such teams?

That question was thrown out in another roundtable with the NFL Mocks crew.  Their answer offered some interesting scenarios to ponder on.

Sayre Bedinger:

“I could see the Broncos trading up again. They did it last year when Shane Ray started to fall, and they didn’t really have to pay much to do it. They still have Ryan Clady under contract, and that could be a valuable trade piece on draft weekend if he hasn’t been traded already. As for what they could trade up for? I think the obvious answer is a quarterback. Paxton Lynch makes sense if he falls, obviously Carson Wentz won’t be there, but what if Lynch and Wentz are the first two QBs selected? How high would John Elway try to jump to grab Jared Goff? It would certainly be an aggressive ‘Elway’ type of move. And Broncos fans would absolutely love it.”

Matthew Holowiak:

“I could see the Jets moving up if Wentz starts to slip at all. They clearly want to move on from Fitzpatrick and don’t have confidence in geno, so if they want their franchise quarterback it’s going to take a lot but that is definitely a team poised to make a big move and I believe Jets fans would be thrilled with that move.”

Eric Robinson:

“It may not be in their draft history but seeing Seattle pull the trigger to jump inside the top 12 won’t surprise me one bit. There’s not a surplus of standout OTs and with losing Okung plus being a team still on the cusp of a championship, it makes sense to grab an elite guy with their already elite team.”

Erik Lambert:

Surprise nobody is mentioning the Los Angeles Rams.  They, more than any team are best positioned and armed for a move up the boards.  L.A. is just one of two teams that currently hold two picks in the 2nd round.  That gives them valuable ammunition to jump from #15, their current spot, into the top 10 in order to grab a player of choice.  Smart money says that will be a quarterback whether it’s Wentz, Jared Goff or Paxton Lynch.  However, don’t sleep on them going after a defensive stud like Joey Bosa or Vernon Hargreaves who could replace their free agency losses of Chris Long and Janoris Jenkins.