NFL Draft 2021: Blockbuster trades that would shake up the first round
New York makes sure they land their top wide receiver
It seems like every year the prospect who the New York Giants want to select with their first-round pick is exposed to the media. This has resulted in teams trading up before the Giants to grab said player in the past. Examples of players who the Giants have publicly made it known that they liked include Leonard Floyd in 2016 (Chicago traded up before the Giants to select him), Saquon Barkley in 2018, Daniel Jones in 2019 (who they overdrafted to ensure they landed him) and last year, it was well known that the Giants were going to select an offensive tackle with their first-round selection. It appears that the player the Giants have connected themselves to this offseason is Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith.
Even before it came out that New York had an interest in Smith, it may have been a difficult road for him to fall into their laps at pick No. 11. That is due to the fact that Smith is considered one of the elite prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft and there are at least three other teams before New York that could be interested in taking a wide receiver in the first round. Trading up before the Detroit Lions pick at No. 7 should almost guarantee that Smith is available for the Giants to pick.
Adding Smith to an offense that features Saquon Barkley, Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard, Evan Engram, and Darius Slayton should give Daniel Jones every opportunity to have a breakout season and show that he is the Giants’ long-term starting quarterback.
The doomsday scenario that would result in Miami trying to trade down from the sixth overall pick is if both Kyle Pitts and Ja’Marr Chase are off the board when they pick. Recently many in the draft community believe that this scenario is very possible with Atlanta taking Pitts at No. 4 and Cincinnati taking Chase at No. 5.
Miami would first call a team like Denver to see if they’re interested in moving up before Detroit to take North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance. But if Denver decides they want to stay pat and let a quarterback fall to them at No. 9, they could possibly field interest from teams who want one of the big four pass-catchers in the 2021 NFL Draft class.
Due to the likelihood that five quarterbacks are taken in the top 10, the 11th pick is a good spot for Miami to pick. They can still land a premier talent from this year’s draft class that would have gone in the top 10 in most years. Many believe the odd man out of the top 10 could be versatile offensive lineman Rashawn Slater out of Northwestern. Even though Miami doesn’t have a dire need at offensive line, Slater fits the best player available criteria and is versatile enough for Miami to move their offensive line around to allow the best five players to be on the field.
If Slater starts at left tackle, 2020 first-round pick Austin Jackson could flip to right tackle, and 2020 second-round pick Robert Hunt could kick inside to guard replacing 2020 fourth-round pick Solomon Kindley. Slater could also just start for the Dolphins at right tackle or guard if Miami wants to keep their line similarly aligned to how they were last year. Slater could also give Miami the opportunity to let go of Erek Flowers in 2022, which would save them $10 million in cap space.
Miami could use the fourth-round pick acquired from New York on Tennessee wide receiver Josh Palmer. He has the potential to be a solid wide receiver at the next level and would start the year as Miami’s WR4.