AFC outlook: Could Patriots grab a QB?
USA TODAY takes a look at what all 16 teams need as the NFL draft nears and what they should do.
The NFL draft is only a day away, teams finalizing their boards and rehearsing various scenarios as Thursday’s first round approaches.
Trades are an inevitable byproduct, and you’re guaranteed to see quite a few once the draft commences. Most will involve the swapping of current and future picks, though some players already in the league could be on the move. Receivers Martavis Bryant and Tavon Austin were packaged off to new teams during last year’s draft for selections and — it must be a wideout thing — Oakland infamously sent Randy Moss to the Patriots during the 2007 draft.
But the trade winds have already blown one prominent player to the Midwest: Seahawks Pro Bowl pass rusher Frank Clark getting dealt to the Chiefs (in a package that brought this year’s first-rounder and 2020’s second to Seattle).
Who else might get moved, on draft night or before? Four names to watch:
❚ Browns RB Duke Johnson: General manager John Dorsey insists his third-string back isn’t going anywhere ... and maybe it does make more sense to hold on to Johnson until closer to the trade deadline, at which point suspended Kareem Hunt’s expected return should be imminent. But the longer Dorsey holds on to an effective third-down back (nearly two-thirds of Johnson’s 3,456 career yards from scrimmage have come as a receiver), the less he can probably expect in return. However, Johnson is under contract for three more years, so Dorsey can certainly afford to drive a hard bargain.
❚ Buccaneers DT Gerald McCoy: He just turned 31. He’s coming off a season when he failed to make the Pro Bowl for the first time since 2011. He’s scheduled to make $13 million this season, and his expensive contract runs through 2021. He’s also not necessarily a great scheme fit in new coordinator Todd Bowles’ defense. So it’s little wonder that the Bucs, including new coach Bruce Arians, have been non-committal about McCoy’s future ... and also no surprise he has yet to report for voluntary workouts.
❚ Jaguars CB Jalen Ramsey: Total speculation here. But he’s been absent from workouts, drawing the ire of old school executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin. Ramsey, arguably the most talented corner in the league, was a huge part of Jacksonville’s success in 2017. He was also a distraction in 2018 and didn’t play up to his exceptional ability, though he was hardly alone in his own locker room. He should be a cornerstone of this franchise. But it’s also not outside the realm of possibility that Coughlin decides he should get everything he can for a player scheduled to be a free agent in two years and one sure to drive a hard bargain come contract time. And don’t forget, the Jags would still have a first-rate corner in A.J. Bouye if Ramsey departs.
❚ Cardinals QB Josh Rosen: According to multiple reports, Arizona brass still hasn’t determined whether to draft Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray with the No. 1 pick. If they arrive at that decision, as most draft observers assume they will, it makes a lot more sense to unload Rosen, the Cards’ top pick in 2018, for the best offer they can wrangle before the draft begins rather than waiting until after it starts.