When it comes to the 2020 NFL Draft and how it will all play out, there are still a lot of things that we don’t know. In certain ways, are in unprecedented territory, at least in the recent era, due to the gaps in knowledge that teams have to work with, and as a result, many believe that things will be more unpredictable than they normally are, with not even teams having a good feel for what others will be doing.
One trend some believe we might see this year, expecting there to be a limited offseason if any amid the Covid-19 pandemic that has shut down the offseason and prevented Pro Days and pre-draft in-person visits from taking place (in addition to medical rechecks), is that teams will be interested in trading draft picks for veteran players.
Some have already done this, of course, including the Pittsburgh Steelers, who needed a defensive lineman and went ahead and shipped a fifth-round pick to the Baltimore Ravens in order to acquire Chris Wormley. Baltimore also traded Hayden Hurst, while bringing in Calais Campbell, via trade.
“There are a bunch of veteran players on the trade block”, Daniel Jeremiah noted on Twitter, on a day in which the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Yannick Ngakoue made it pretty clear that he would like to be traded. “One thing to keep in mind- the teams trading back to collect picks will have more ammo to trade for these veteran players. Manipulate the board to get best of both worlds (prospects/vets)”.
There are a bunch of veteran players on the trade block. One thing to keep in mind- the teams trading back to collect picks will have more ammo to trade for these veteran players. Manipulate the board to get best of both worlds (prospects/vets).
— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) April 21, 2020
For a team like the Steelers, which has quality in the starting lineup and a good mixture of veterans, it’s unlikely that they would put too much into this approach, even if their draft resources were not already quite minimal. They have only six total picks, none in the first round, and only one in the top 100 selections.
Alternately, I also don’t see the Steelers being likely to trade anybody in exchange for draft picks, though sometimes, you just never know. Nobody was expecting them to make a draft-day trade a couple of years ago to send Martavis Bryant to the Oakland Raiders for a third-round pick. The problem is, though, that I don’t really see any expendable pieces that other teams would be interested in.
If the Steelers do trade, it will almost surely be a pick-for-picks trade to move down and give themselves more than six selections. Or at least more than one selection in the top 100. The good news is that there are only a few more days remaining until we find out what happens.
