Among the many stories going around in the lead-up to the 2012 NFL Draft, possibly the most intriguing of those involve teams that may trade up or trade down. So far the biggest story of these was the Washington Redskins trading up to the number 2 pick and now it appears the Cleveland Browns are prepared to part with the number 4 pick and have fielded multiple calls from teams asking about the pick.
The difference between this and some of the other conjecture we have heard thus far about pick trades is that there is legitimate talk of this trade being discussed. One of the teams that appears to be a frontrunner, the St Louis Rams, have commented on this possibility previously. At the NFL Owners meetings, new Rams head coach Jeff Fisher made it clear that the team was exploring the possibility of a trade. The targets for the Rams here are varied but at the moment it could be any of Trent Richardson, Justin Blackmon or Morris Claiborne.
The Rams aren’t the only suitors for the number 4 pick – the Philadelphia Eagles have expressed an interest. This is a really difficult possibility to read because the Eagles don’t have an apparent need to trade up. They’re solid at the RB, CB and WR positions which rules out the main targets at the number 4 pick. This suggests that they are interested in Ryan Tannehill which would make a lot of sense given Michael Vick’s injury history and inevitable decline. One other possibility for Philly is that they reach for a player they really like. This could be any of Melvin Ingram, Quentin Coples, Riley Reiff or Luke Kuechly but all of these are a stretch given how far the Eagles would be moving up.
Of the other teams who may trade up, Miami and Seattle are both possibilities to move up for Tannehill. I also wouldn’t rule out the Cowboys, Cardinals, Bills and Panthers for various reasons.
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