Not necessarily with the 1st pick, mind you, but the team has a proven willingness for trading up to get mid round picks they have targeted. For example:
In 2004, the Redskins had targeted tight end Chris Cooley as a third-round talent.
Problem: the Redskins didn't have a third-round pick.
Problem solved: the Redskins traded a 2005 second-round pick to be able to draft Cooley with the 81st pick in the third round.
The rest is history. Remember we did the same thing to get Rocky McIntosh:
To obtain McIntosh, the Redskins traded the 53rd pick in the second round of this year's draft, the 189th pick in the sixth round of this year's draft and a second-round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft.
I thought that worked out too. As Gary Fitzgerald tells us , we may do something similar this weekend:
[T]eam officials would have no qualms about trading up in the mid-rounds of the draft.
"We have always been an aggressive team, so if there is somebody there that we like, we have made efforts to go get them," executive vice president Vinny Cerrato said. "Like with Chris Cooley--we didn't have a pick and we really thought he was talented, so we went and got a pick.
"I don't think we're afraid to do anything. We are willing to do anything--move up, move back, get picks, go get a player. Whatever is the best interest to help the football--that has always been our philosophy."
The team is beginning to develop a track record with trading up to get the right guy for the team, so don't be surprised if we end up with some amount fewer than nine players from tomorrow's draft. I could definitely see us trying to move up farther in the third round since we have two of those picks already. I also know that having a bunch of lower round picks (7th rounders) isn't really going to help us move anywhere, since they are of so little value.
Thoughts on this strategy? I should have a Draft Open Thread up soon.