This might make trading difficult.
Mock drafts have been following a strange formula. At No. 1, it’s the Cardinals taking Kyler Murray. No. 2-5 is the trio of Quinnen Williams, Josh Allen, and Nick Bosa getting taken off the board along with someone else to fill that slate. No. 6 has been somewhat consistent with the Giants taking Dwayne Haskins.
Last week, there were numerous reports that the Giants were not interested in Haskins and weren’t going to be doing much work. On ESPN’s Breaking Big Blue podcast, Dianna Russini went into detail on how quarterback may not be in the Giants’ plans:
“About a week after the Combine, I circled back with some [New York Giants personnel] people like, ‘What are you thinking about Haskins, do you guys like him? Do you think you are going for it with that sixth pick?’ It was, ‘No, actually. We’re not doing a lot of work on him.’ I spoke to a few people. I’ll paraphrase one: ‘He doesn’t fit with us.’ I think there’s more to this and we’re going to find out more soon, but the idea that they are not going go after a quarterback at their sixth pick solidifies they are not giving up on Eli (Manning).”
So what does this mean? Well it might make trading, at least for Haskins, not happening at No. 2. The Giants were the ones many thought would put up the draft capitol to go get Haskins at No. 2, leapfrogging the Oakland Raiders. If the Giants aren’t interested in Haskins, that leaves him for the Raiders and eliminates the two-way bidding war to get him.
At No. 7, behind the Giants, is the Jacksonville Jaguars. They will need a quarterback, but they signed Nick Foles and won’t be wanting to do a trade this year for one. Then there’s the Denver Broncos at 10, the Cincinnati Bengals at 11 and Miami Dolphins at 13. Of those three, the Dolphins would be the ones to really make an investment, but to trade all the way down to the No. 2 spot for a quarterback is going to take an awful lot. Plus, now that the Giants have two draft picks and aren’t looking at Haskins, that makes them a more valuable trade partner. 13 to 2 is much more expensive than 13 to 6. If the Raiders show any interest in a quarterback and the Dolphins want Haskins, then the No. 2 trade becomes a possibility, but it won’t be cheap and Haskins is a player highly unlikely to command that kind of deal. These three teams may be battling it out for someone else besides Dwayne Haskins. The Broncos have been linked to quarterbacks and other teams could go into No. 8 or 9 to keep John Elway from getting his QB of the future.
Any way you look at it, if the Giants don’t take Haskins it’s going to make any team in the teens think twice about offloading draft picks to pass the Raiders. That is assuming the Raiders want Haskins at all.
All of this is dependent on the Cardinals going with Murray. If they pass on him, the Giants and Raiders could then maybe pounce for No. 2, but if they weren’t going to get to No. 1 for him, one spot doesn’t seem like much of a difference in this scenario. So unless someone reaaaaaaaallllly wants Bosa, the 49ers might not be able to get out of the No. 2 pick.
About the Author: Insidethe49
