Detroit Lions have plans for NFL draft day trade with Miami Dolphins or New York Giants
The Detroit Lions, who hold the No. 3 overall pick in Thursday’s NFL draft, have made plans to actually draft at either No. 4 or No. 5 overall, according to an NFL source familiar with the team’s thinking.
The Lions have a degree of confidence they will be able to trade their pick to either the New York Giants or Miami Dolphins at some point either before the draft or while they’re on the clock.
No deal is said to be finalized as of this writing. That’s perhaps because the Lions may be trying to pit the Giants and Dolphins against each other.
But the situation speaks to the strong possibility one of these teams is moving up from its current position and the Lions believe they stand to benefit.
So what does this all mean?
Well, for the Giants, who own the No. 4 pick, the calculation would be an obvious one: If they believe the Dolphins, who have the No. 5 pick, are willing to vault them, it puts them at risk of losing out on the draft’s top-rated offensive tackle.
The Giants are said to value picking a tackle at No. 4. and multiple reports surfaced on Wednesday that the Dolphins value moving up to take a tackle.
So for the Giants, the move up one spot means they get the offensive tackle they want.
The Giants hold the No. 4 pick and the No. 36 overall selection (2nd round). So they might feel like they’d be overpaying to gain the one spot in the first round and ask for another Lions pick in return.
For the Dolphins the potential trade opens a number of possibilities...
If the Dolphins do indeed value a tackle in a potential trade-up, as was reported by the NFL Network and Mike Lombardi of The GM Shuffle podcast on Thursday, then the targets are Georgia tackle Andrew Thomas, Alabama tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. or Iowa tackle Tristan Wirfs.
If the Dolphins are trading up but it’s not for a tackle, it would be for a quarterback.
And the choices there are Oregon’s Justin Herbert or Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa. Yes, both of them.
You already understand why Miami might feel the need to trade to No. 3 to get the prized tackle. But if the Dolphins are thinking quarterback at No. 3, the idea would obviously be to make certain they land their second-rated quarterback after LSU’s Joe Burrow -- either Herbert or Tagovailoa.
In that trade-up scenario, the Dolphins would protect themselves from having the Los Angeles Chargers, which like Miami need a quarterback of the future, trade up from their No. 6 spot past the Dolphins, and pick the QB Miami wants.
And now if you are surprised both Herbert and Tagovailoa are included among the quarterback possibilities it’s because some people believe the Dolphins would never pick Herbert, while others believe they’d never pick Tagovailoa.
The Dolphins themselves have not said which they prefer. So, again, both Herbert and Tagovailoa must remain in the picture in this scenario.
So ... some thoughts:
The idea of Miami tanking the 2019 season in order to pick an offensive tackle at the top of the 2020 draft is radical enough. But trading up to do it? That is seriously questionable because it would likely involve giving up one of Miami’s two second-round picks, perhaps No. 39 overall.
That said, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross loves outside-the-box type moves.
He’s suggested many in recent years, including trading down in 2017 rather than selecting Minkah Fitzpatrick in the first round. Fitzpatrick was an All Pro selection after being traded from the Dolphins to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019.
So does being outside the box make this strategy the right one? The wise one?
It makes it the unconventional one, that’s for sure.
One more thing: It’s possible a trade involving the Dolphins doesn’t happen. Perhaps the Giants win the derby for the No. 3 pick, leaving Miami at No. 5. Perhaps as the Lions are on the clock, and both New York or Miami back out.
In either of those two cases, the Giants get the offensive tackle they covet.
And the Dolphins? Who knows who they get.
This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 1:34 AM.
