NFL Rumors: Tennessee Titans May Deal First Overall Pick

As the 2016 NFL draft approaches, rumors have been circulating about the Tennessee Titans possibly trading their first overall pick. The Titans have finally found their quarterback of the future in Marcus Mariota. The same rumors surrounded the Titans last year and most of what was claimed was true. It now seems that the Titans may have made the right decision by rejecting the trade, but this time around the circumstances are a little different.

Titans’ general manger Joe Robinson claimed that he would take a “king’s ransom” to trade the first overall pick. He eventually retracted what he said. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Robinson’s exact statement.

“We’d be open to moving the pick. I think the statement I made the other day maybe got taken out of context a little bit with ‘kings random’. The question was what would it take to move way back in the draft, which would take a lot of picks. I think some heard that I wasn’t open to moving, or we weren’t open to moving the pick, which is not true.”

Robinson is clearly open to trading the first overall pick according to his most recent statement. However, he is completely accurate about one thing that he said. It is going to take a lot for the Titans to move down in the draft. Historically, trading up for the first overall pick never comes cheap. The team trading up is usually the participant who gets screwed in the deal.

Most recently, the Los Angles Rams (St. Louis when this event occurred) dealt their second overall pick to the Washington Redskins in the 2012 NFL draft. The Redskins gave up their first round picks in 2012, 2013 and 2014. They also threw in their second round pick in 2012 as well. For a while, it seemed as if the Redskins made a heck of a deal because Griffin became a superstar in his rookie season. Things took a turn for the worse when he sustained a major injury in the playoffs that same season.

Griffin has never been the same player since his injury. The Redskins epically lost out on the deal they made. Trading top draft picks in the NFL is one way to ruin an organizations’ future. The Redskins faced a couple of years of mediocrity after these events and couldn’t add any major talent to fix the issue.

Rams’ head coach Jeff Fischer trolled the Redskins organization after this deal was made. Fischer was as bold as to send some of the players he acquired from the trade out to the coin toss when the Rams played the Redskins in the 2014 NFL season.

A similar deal involving the Titans and Philadelphia Eagles was almost worked out in last years’ draft. Former Eagles’ head coach Chip Kelly was going to do anything he could to trade up and draft Mariota. The Eagles were willing to trade away even more than the Redskins were for the Titans’ second overall pick.

Peter Schrager of Fox Sports reported that the Eagles offered to trade away their 2015 first round pick, 2015 second round pick, 2016 first round pick, any of their quarterbacks, and any player on their defense to the Titans last year.

The Titans obviously rejected the offer, which is quite shocking. They ended up making the right decision because good quarterbacks don’t come around very often. Mariota is going to be the face of the Titans’ franchise for years to come. He also filled a major gap on their roster. In this years’ draft, the Titans have a legitimate reason to trade their first overall pick.

Multiple organizations like the Denver Broncos, Eagles and Rams are rumored to be the teams potentially looking to trade with the Titans. The Broncos and Rams are both desperate for a quarterback after coming out of the free agency empty handed. The Eagles are in a better position due to the fact that they are choosing high enough that it may not be worth the jump.

Trading away the first overall pick could be the best move for the Titans. The team has a solid foundation to build on as it is. The Titans’ could fill some major holes in their defense and add to their blossoming offense. Obtaining that many draft picks could really push the Titans to make the jump to become a potential playoff team in a usually poor AFC South division.

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