Division Links: Who in the NFC East is moving up and who’s moving down in the ‘22 draft?

Dallas Morning News via Blogging the Boys

Why the Cowboys should trade up in the 2022 NFL Draft

Dallas owns an NFL-high four picks in the fifth round. Between that stockpile and the compensatory selections that are forecast in 2023, the team has given itself flexibility. There is an opportunity to be aggressive if and when the front office deems the approach advantageous.

Maybe that means Thursday if a player the Cowboys value has lingered longer than expected. They could climb a few spots, perhaps by parting with multiple Day 3 picks. As a kicker, maybe this trade could net Dallas a seventh-round pick, something it currently doesn’t have.

Or perhaps the Cowboys will make their move Friday during the second or third round. They own the No. 56 and 88 overall choices, respectively.

The draft is not just about teams picking players. It is about them picking their spots, deciding when to be patient and went to initiate phone calls for a trade up. The Cowboys are well-equipped to initiate calls, in part, because of their quiet free agency.

Overthecap.com tentatively projects Dallas will receive a fourth-round pick for Gregory and sixth-round picks for Williams and Wilson in 2023.

The Cowboys can plan accordingly.

Their patience in free agency gives them license to be more aggressive in the draft.

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Bleeding Green Nation

NFL Draft Rumors: Eagles “notably making calls” about trading up

Are the Philadelphia Eagles going to trade up in the 2022 NFL Draft? The latest buzz ahead of Thursday’s action indicates that the Birds are looking to make a move.

NFL insider Ian Rapoport said the following during an NFL Network appearance on Tuesday:

So, we talk about teams every time this time of year, who wants to move up? Who wants to move down? One of the teams that I would say it most notably making calls about potentially moving up is the Philadelphia Eagles. Which, no surprise, every time this year it seems Howie Roseman is interested in doing a lot of things. Moving up is one, moving back is another. Moving up is a fascinating one because you do wonder if the Eagles move up from 15 — of course, they do have plenty of ammunition, including the two first-round picks — who would they be targeting? Potentially would a corner be someone they would be targeting? Would it be an edge rusher? Would a [Kayvon] Thibodeaux slip? Lot of options here for the Philadelphia Eagles. Obviously we’ll keep our eyes on that. No one loves trades more than Howie Roseman.

A number of things to unpack here.

• Reporters, especially ones like RapSheet who are employed by the league to some extent, obviously aren’t just reporting on a team’s true intentions. They’re often fed information for a reason. One must consider who leaked the Eagles’ interest in moving up and why it’s being put out there.
• Just how far might the Eagles move up? Howie Roseman has a history of jumping up a few picks to get a guy he really wants. See: DeVonta Smith last year, Andre Dillard in 2019, Fletcher Cox in 2012. Speculation about that possibility isn’t incredibly exciting since it would be about the Eagles securing a player they hoped would fall to No. 15, such as a Jameson Williams or a Jordan Davis.
• Trading up in the top 10, by contrast, is a juicy consideration. It feels like Ahmad Gardner will be long gone by the time he’s even within Philly’s range. But if he falls for some reason? That would be one to watch. Derek Stingley Jr. has some red flags that make it more complicated to target him in a trade up but the Birds might be tantalized by his potential. Trading up for any other corner, such as Trent McDuffie, feels too rich.
• The Eagles notably hosted Thibodeaux on a pre-draft visit. Maybe he does indeed fall. For what it’s worth, NFL insider Mike Garafolo recently said that he thinks Thibs is going to slide a little further than expected. The Eagles would certainly be tempted by an edge rusher.

Ultimately, the NFL Draft is so fluid that these rumors and reports must be taken with a grain of salt. But sometimes there’s fire to be found where smoke exists. Given the latest reporting, we can’t be surprised if/when we see the Eagles move up on Thursday night. It might just be a matter of how far they go.

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Big Blue View

NFL Draft rumors: Trade-down scenarios for Giants at No. 7

Steelers GM Kevin Colbert says moving from No. 20 to No. 7 is a consideration

We know, or at least think we know, that New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen would be happy to trade down with one of his picks at No. 5 and No. 7 in the 2022 NFL Draft. Here are a couple of proposed ways he could do that.

Steelers interested in moving from No. 20 to No. 7

Pittsburgh Steelers GM Kevin Colbert said this week that he would try to “guestimate” what it would cost to move from pick No. 20 to No. 7, owned by the Giants, in Thursday’s Round 1.

Here is a proposal from Jared Dubin of CBS:

According to the old Jimmy Johnson trade chart, the No. 7 overall pick is worth 1,500 points. According to that chart, the Steelers would have to surrender their entire draft to make up that value, but even then Nos. 20 (850), 52 (380), 84 (170), 138 (37), 208 (6.6), 225 (1), and 241 (1) still come up short. More likely, some combination of 20, next year’s first-round pick, and a Day 2 or Day 3 selection would get it done.

Using the NFL Mock Draft Database simulator, the trade I was able to have approved was No. 7 in exchange for No. 20, No. 52 and a 2023 second-round pick.

Would you do either of those from the Giants’ perspective?

What about moving down to No. 22?

Cynthia Frelund of NFL.com proposes the following Giants trade down involving the Green Bay Packers:

Green Bay gets: No. 7 overall

New York gets: No. 22, No. 59, 2023 second-round pick

That is very similar to the package from Pittsburgh outlined above. Frelund writes:

As for the Giants, this trade gives them four selections in that aforementioned sweet-spot range. With so much depth in the 2022 class, there are a whole bunch of prospects who in other years would be rated between Nos. 20-32. So there’s a lot more projected value this year in the late-first-round-to-early-third-round (first eight picks) range relative to previous drafts. In this trade scenario, the Giants, who have a number of needs, still select at fifth overall and then four times in the desired range — plus, they get a second-round pick in 2023 as the cherry on top.

The NFL Mock Draft Database simulator approves a far more Giant-friendly trade:

Green Bay gets: No. 7 overall

New York gets: No. 22, No. 28, 2023 fourth-round pick

Would you do either of those from the Giants’ perspective?