Miami Dolphins: Draft Day Trade-Down Scenarios
Nov 1, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs tackle Branden Albert (76) walks to the locker room after the San Diego Chargers beat the Chiefs 31-13 at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
As I was sitting down to enjoy my cup of coffee last night before bed, one of my good friends texted me with a Miami Dolphin rumor informing me that Miami was working towards a deal to acquire Kansas City Chiefs‘ left tackle, Branden Albert.
Just kidding, I cannot stand coffee.
Miami has been linked to the possibility of trading with Kansas City for Albert’s services for quite some time now. And it’s beginning to seem imminent.
It was originally thought that acquiring Albert’s services would cost a second-round draft selection and then some (possibly a 4th or 5th). It is now thought that Kansas City is only asking for a second-round selection.
Good or bad?
Excellent. Miami has eleven picks during the upcoming draft which is a week away from today. Do not get your hopes up that Miami will be using all eleven picks on players, though. Now, the team could move up from it’s twelve spot to grab one of the draft’s top three offensive tackles. But why move if you can grab a top-ten talent offensive tackle by simply sending one of your second-round selections along and keep your first-round pick? This would cap off an excellent off-season for Dolphins’ GM Jeff Ireland, potentially catapulting Miami in to Wild-Card talk among NFL Analysts.
So let’s make a scenario out of this for some fun…
The Miami Dolphins have traded their 54th and 224th overall selections to the Kansas City Chiefs for Offensive Tackle Branden Albert (I threw in a 7th round selection so Miami could keep the 42nd pick).
Miami will now look to trade down in the first-round of the draft to be in better position to fill their pass rushing and secondary need without reaching for a specific player.
St. Louis may be looking to move up from their spot at 22 to add one of the draft’s top receivers, safeties or one of the top guards.
Heyyo!
St. Louis sends Miami their 22nd (1st, 780 points) and their 46th (2nd, 440 points) overall selections for Miami’s 12th (1st, 1,200) and 166th (5th, 25 points) overall selections.
This deal works out for both parties well. St. Louis then leap-frogs ten spots while keeping their 16th overall selection to be in position to grab the draft’s best safety (Vacarro), guard (Warmack, Cooper), etc. Hell given these circumstances they could even snag Austin at 12 AND Patterson at 16 to fill the Wide Receiver position if they really wanted to! Miami now moves into position to fill a need at either defensive end (Werner, Moore, Okafor, Jones, etc.) or corner (Rhodes – if he falls, Trufant – if he falls other options include Wreh–Wilson, Poyer, Taylor, Hayden, etc.) without reaching for a prospect at the 12 spot. AND gains a valuable second-round pick in the process.
*Typical fan* “Well jeez, I don’t think St. Louis would do that. That’s just stupid.”
Okay, let’s make another trade-down scenario just for “those” fans…
San Francisco has an astounding 14 draft picks this year. And yes, that’s even better than Miami’s 11. Sitting at the tail end of round one, I wouldn’t be surprised if the team felt a desire to move up considering it’s plethora of ammunition and huge need for a safety…
San Francisco sends their 31st (1st, 600 points), 34th (2nd, 560 points) and 128th (4th, 44 points) selections to Miami for the 12th (1st, 1200 points) and 217th (7th, 4.6 points) overall selections .
San Francisco is now in position to fill a huge need at the safety position by adding former Texas University standout Kenny Vacarro – remember the team lost Dashon Goldson this off-season. Miami is now in a perfect position to add a corner and a pass rusher in the late first and early second-round. Hell, the team will feel no pressure to reach for any player at this point and could also add an offensive lineman, safety, wide receiver, tight end, etc. Bottom line: Miami will be in position to add the best player available at a specific position of need.
If this scenario actually DID come true, I would expect Miami to make a few more trades given their amount of picks…
But hey, if Miami does indeed pull the trigger on a trade for Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive tackle Branden Albert, the team could easily stay put and add even more talent to the offensive line by adding North Carolina guard, Jonathan Cooper. This would give Miami a front of Albert, Incognito, Pouncey, Cooper, and Martin. Doesn’t look too bad on paper, does it?
Seven more days fans, seven more days…
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/draft/draft-trade-chart/
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/18/3349366/miami-dolphins-coach-joe-philbin.html