Trades To Be Made Part 2

The talk of the NFL Draft the last week has been not so much on the players and who is rising and falling, but which team is going to move up or down in the first round of the upcoming NFL Draft. It looks like the Atlanta Falcons are enamored with the talents of Jadaveon Clowney, and what they will have to give up to move from #6 to #1 and select the talented defensive end. If the Falcons want Clowney, there will be a high price to pay. Moving up to the #2 pick in 2012 cost the Washington Redskins three #1's and a #2. It will take that and possibly another pick in a later round to acquire the 1st Overall pick this year. Now the question is 'Do the Falcons pull the trigger?' As a draft blogger, it's easy for me to say Yes but if I were making the trade I'd make damn sure that the #2 pick wasn't this year. The draft this year is loaded. There will be first round talents going in Round 3. Atlanta has holes to fill and their run of injuries last season showed what can happen to a team top heavy with stars and lacking in depth in the salary cap era. This year, Atlanta can get the depth they need as well as players who can contribute right away. If the Falcons can hold onto their 2nd and 3rd Rounders this year, they can pick up talent to help and still get their blue chip player in Clowney. It will cost them down the road, but the Falcons have enough veteran talent to contend for a title, and when you have a team like that it is easier to bring in free agent players that will take the place of the lost draft picks. Think about it: if the Falcons make the playoffs and win a game, their first rounder will be no earlier than #25 in 2015. Their second round pick this year is #37. If that pick is an A grade talent, then Atlanta will survive the big trade of 2014. Now there is talk going around that Dallas is going to do whatever it takes to select Johnny Manziel. It would be a publicity coup for the Cowboys, keeping the Texas football legend in state who will take over for Tony Romo someday. But Jerry Jones will have to make an even bigger deal than what the Falcons would have to make to move up to #1 Overall and select Jadaveon Clowney. Atlanta and St. Louis are the only teams in the Top 8 not in the market for a quarterback. If Atlanta doesn't make the deal for #1, Houston could still take Manziel. If Houston and St. Louis pass, then Jacksonville, Cleveland, or Oakland might take the Heisman Trophy playmaker. Dallas would then have to move up to #6 to pick Manziel. But I've been doing the math, and if Dallas really wants Manziel and are willing to do anything to get him, at the very least they need to make the deal with St. Louis and move up to #2 or go all the way and take Manziel at #1 after making a deal with Houston. But to move up that far, Dallas is not only need to trade a boatload of draft picks, somewhere in the line of three #1's, two #2's, and a third rounder somewhere. And they will need to throw in a player or two as well. I can see one Cowboy who would be wanted by both Houston and St. Louis is Terrence Williams, a young talented receiver who can contribute right away and for a long time. But if Manziel falls in the draft, any one of the teams in the top 8 can hold the pick hostage until they get the player they want, and at #14 they can still get a quarterback, possibly Blake Bortles, Derek Carr or Teddy Bridgewater. The first round of the 2014 NFL Draft is going to be a free-for-all with trades, and I find it interesting that jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys would be the biggest wheeler/dealer of the bunch. Their championship teams of the early 90's were built through a lopsided trade with Minnesota for Herschel Walker. Now the tables are turning. If Dallas makes the trade, they better hope that Johnny Football lives up to the hype or it may take the Cowboys a long time to recover.