NFL Draft Night Rumors Abound As Teams Consider Moving Around In First Round
KANSAS CITY -- Ran Carthon is in his first year as the Tennessee Titans general manager and he wants to make a mark in his first draft. That's why he's been talking to multiple teams the past few days to see if a trade is possible.
Carthon, multiple NFL sources told OutKick, has spoken the Houston Texans about the No. 2 overall selection. He's called the Arizona Cardinals about the No. 3 overall selection.
"It's pretty obvious what he's doing," the source said. "He's doing what we all do. He's getting his ducks in a row. And I can't say this for fact because I'm not in their building, but he's probably looking to get in position to draft a quarterback."
Titans Searching For Tannehill Successor
The Titans have Ryan Tannehill as their starting quarterback. But he is not their quarterback of the future. Carthon is apparently in the market for the future guy.
Welcome to the 2023 NFL draft. If you want drama and maybe even a little chaos Thursday night, you might be in for a treat.
"Everybody I've talked to has talked about having at least some desire to trade back," NFL Network draft analyst Joel Klatt said. "There's this scenario where Houston takes a player at No. 2 and then trades back into the top 10.
"We haven't seen many trades on draft night when you talk about the top of the draft ... But I think there's going to be some movement. Too many teams have expressed interest in trading back. I think you're going to see some fireworks as it relates to the trades."
It's not just the analysts who talk to sources within teams predicting trades. There's significant uncertainty among the people actually making decisions.
Colts Want A QB Somehow
“I’m not being evasive," Colts owner Jim Irsay told ESPN. "I’m being honest. Really, we are still debating what our options are."
The Colts options are much like other teams:
Pick. Or trade up. Or trade down.
They're all possible, if not likely during the first round -- especially early.
The Texans have fielded multiple calls about trading out of the No. 2 overall pick. And they're considering the move. But, as Klatt noted, there's a possibility if they don't pick a QB at No. 2, they might trade up from No. 12 to pick one.
The Cardinals have basically screamed their desire to move down from the No. 3 overall selection.
The Colts may wish to climb but regardless of what they do, they want to pick a quarterback, a source told OutKick.
Jimmy Garoppolo is the Raiders starter for 2023 but team might be on the hunt for a quarterback of the future.
Raiders, Falcons Exploring Their Draft Options
The Las Vegas Raiders at No. 7 and Atlanta Falcons at No. 8 are both open to trading up. Or down, if players they covet are not available.
And the movement might not be limited to the top of the draft or in the first round.
The Dolphins have no pick until the second round (51st overall) because they forfeited their first-round pick when an NFL investigation found club owner Stephen Ross and others to be tampering with coach Sean Payton and quarterback Tom Brady (on multiple occasions).
But the Dolphins have had internal discussions about trading up in the second round -- a trade into the first round would be difficult but not impossible -- for a player they believe will improve their offense: Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs.
Jahmyr Gibbs of Alabama participates in the 40-yard dash during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 05, 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Dolphins Value Alabama's Gibbs
The Dolphins have Jeff Wilson Jr., Raheem Mostert, Salvon Ahmed and Myles Gaskin on the roster, but Ahmed and Gaskin are on one-year deals and could be cut this year without significant salary cap implications.
Mostert and Wilson are on two-year deals and could easily be cut without major cap charge concerns after this season.
The club could use a running back to be part of the rotation that is dynamic and cheap, as most rookies are. So Gibbs is a possibility.