[caption id="attachment_5631" align="aligncenter" width="245" caption="Jake Locker"]
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The Washington Redskins face a dilemma. They are in need of a quarterback of the future and it seems likely that they would like to obtain that quarterback in the upcoming NFL draft.
However, the draft board does not seem to line up in favor of the Redskins being able to select a quality signal caller. The top two prospects, Cam Newton and Blaine Gabbert, are likely to be gone by the time the Redskins initial pick, the tenth overall, rolls around. It would be a major reach for the Redskins to take one of the second-tier quarterbacks on the board, players such as Jake Locker and Christian Ponder, at that point. However, when the Redskins' next turn comes up in the second round, the 41st pick, other quarterback-needy teams may have snapped up the other more desirable signal callers.
There is a possible solution to this thorny situation. The Redskins could pull off a double deal, moving back their first-round pick to pick up some additional picks that they could use to improve their second-round pick.
Here is one way such a deal could play out. The Redskins trade back with the Rams, who have the 14th overall pick and are said to covet Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones. If you go by the
draft value chart as a guideline (although some teams look at it and some ignore it, most pick for pick trades come close to matching the chart values), there is a 200-point difference between picks 10 and 14. That just so happens to be the value of pick number 78, the Rams' third-round pick. Should the deal be made some other, later picks could change hands but for now we'll focus on the third-round pick.
(Note: Making that trade with the Rams has
been discussed here previously.)
The Redskins do not have a third-rounder so they certainly could use that pick for a player who could contribute in 2011. Or they could use it to move up their second-round pick and perhaps get a quarterback.
The 41st pick is worth 490 points so you add that to the 200-point third-rounder to get 690, or about the value of the 27th pick. That belongs to the Falcons. The Redskins could take their second and their newly-acquired third and package them to move up to get a second first-round pick and take Locker or Ponder or whichever second-tier quarterback might fit into their plans.
If Atlanta doesn't want to deal, perhaps the Patriots, picking 28th and frequently willing to trade back for extra picks, will pull the trigger. Or if the Redskins think that the Seahawks, drafting 25th, might have their eyes on a signal call who they covet, the Redskins could package that second, the just-acquired third, and one of their two fifths and deal them to the Saints for the 24th pick.
There are other potential trade partners for both the first and second parts of this scenario. But it could be a way for the Redskins to still get a very good player with their first pick and to fill the quarterback hole in one night.
What do you think? Should the Redskins do something like this if the opportunity presents itself? Should they stand pat? Or should the use any picks acquired by trading back to draft players, not trade up? Let us know in the comments.
