The Indianapolis Colts are in a rare position, and a position they haven’t been in since the turn of the century—uncertainty at the quarterback position. The Colts are currently slated to pick at No. 13 in the 2020 NFL draft, but they also have two other picks in the top 50 this coming April.
With over two months to go until the draft, a big looming question around the fan base remains. “Will the Colts take a QB in the draft?” While picking at No. 13 the Colts might not have many options, they do have the capital to trade up if they so choose.
This might be completely against Chris Ballard’s thinking. He always prefers to add draft picks rather than trade them away. But even though he’s reluctant to trade up in the draft or give up capital, it should be reminded that he traded up last year in the fourth round, giving up both his fourth-round picks to get Khari Willis. He also traded up a few spots to draft Tyquan Lewis in 2018.
So if Ballard likes a player, he isn’t against moving up for them.
There are a few teams that are selecting in the top five that most likely won’t be selecting a quarterback: the Redskins (No. 2), Lions (No. 3) and Giants (No. 4). But there are also some teams ahead of the Colts that could be looking to take a quarterback.
So what would a trade look like if the Colts were to move up into the top five to select a quarterback?
For the sake of the argument, the hypothetical will be the Colts are trading into the top five. If we go off recent history, there are a few examples of teams moving up to get quarterback, like in 2016:
- Los Angeles Rams traded their 2016 first, two seconds and a third, plus a first and second of 2017 to the Titans to move up from picking at No. 15 to No. 1 to get Jared Goff.
- Philadelphia Eagles trade their 2016 first, third and fourth, plus 2017 first, and a 2018 third-round pick to move up from picking at No. 8 to No. 2 to get Carson Wentz.
More examples include:
- 2017: the Chiefs trading up from No. 27 to No. 10, giving up their 2017 first, third and 2018 first, to get Patrick Mahomes.
- 2018: the New York Jets sent their 2018 first, two seconds and a 2019 second to the Colts to pick Sam Darnold, moving up from No. 6 to No. 3.
- 2018: the Buffalo Bills moved up from No. 12 to No. 7 to select Josh Allen. they gave up a 2018 first and two second-round picks.
So for the Colts to move up from their current pick (No. 13) to move into at least the top five if they want to get the quarterback they like, the offer would be somewhere in the neighborhood of:
- The other team gets: Indianapolis 2020 1st (No. 13), two seconds (Nos. 34 and 44), and possibly a mid/late-round pick in either 2020 or 2021.
- Indianapolis Colts get: Top five pick (whatever QB they take), and possibly a mid-to-late round pick in this year’s draft.
While it does seem like mortgaging the future, there have been plenty of teams to successfully trade up to get their quarterback—Eagles, Chiefs, Texans, Bills, Rams, Ravens—than teams that didn’t find such success.
It is always difficult to predict trade packages and it might be more unlikely that Ballard will trade up. But if there is a quarterback he likes, he will likely have to trade into the top five.
This is what the package could look like for that hypothetical trade.
[lawrence-related id=39046,39035,38988]