2012 NFL Draft Grades: Breaking Down Every 1st-Round Trade
The first round of the 2012 NFL draft featured the most draft-day trades since 1970, a product of the new collective bargaining agreement's rookie wage scale. Money is no longer an issue to obtain a high pick, increasing the incentive for teams to move up and get players they want.
Here is how we graded each of the first-round trades Thursday night:
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Vikings Get: No. 4 overall, plus fourth-, fifth- and seventh-round picks in 2012 draft
Browns Get: No. 3 overall pick
Both teams are big winners here. While the Browns had to give up three later picks to move up just one spot, the Browns couldn't afford to watch another team leapfrog them to No. 3 overall to get Trent Richardson. The Alabama running back is exactly the kind of player Cleveland needs to score more points in the AFC North next season and beyond.
Minnesota GM Rick Spielman did well to stockpile picks and still get the player he always wanted in Kalil. The Vikings have a lot of holes, but a big one was filled at No. 4 overall, and Spielman now has the ammo to fill several others in this draft.
Vikings grade: A
Browns grade: A-
Buccaneers Get: No. 7 overall pick, plus fourth-round pick in 2012
Jaguars Get: No. 5 overall pick
The Buccaneers took a bigger risk in passing on Morris Claiborne at No. 5 overall than the Jags did in moving up to get the draft's No. 1 receiver. However, I like the move for both teams.
Jacksonville gets a top target for quarterback Blaine Gabbert, a 2011 first-rounder who needs to take a big step next season. Justin Blackmon and free-agent pickups Laurent Robinson and Lee Evans give the tean's passing game a chance in 2012.
While Tampa Bay missed on one of the draft's blue-chippers in Claiborne, Barron isn't far off from elite status. He is the exactly the kind of safety Tampa Bay needs to turn around a defense that was really bad in 2011. And if cornerback Aqib Talib can wiggle out of legal trouble and avoid suspension, the Bucs won't worry too much about missing on Claiborne.
Buccaneers grade: B+
Jaguars grade: B+
St. Louis Rams-Dallas Cowboys
Rams Get: No. 14 overall pick, plus second-round pick in 2012
Cowboys Get: No. 6 overall pick
Aggressive move up for the Cowboys, who have now turned over both starting cornerbacks by taking Claiborne at No. 6. The LSU star will team with free-agent acquisition Brandon Carr to give Dallas a pair of solid, young cornerbacks.
Costly move, but worth it for the Cowboys.
The Rams are the big winners here, however.
While Claiborne would have fit, St. Louis understood that its roster has more holes than one stud cornerback could fill. Instead, the Rams moved back and picked up another high pick to help reload the franchise.
To top it off, head coach Jeff Fisher got his Albert Haynesworth 2.0 in Michael Brockers. He will need some fine-tuning at the NFL level, but there's no better hands for Brockers to fall into than Fisher's in St. Louis.
Rams grade: A
Cowboys grade: A-
Seahawks Get: No. 15 overall pick, plus fourth- and sixth-round picks in 2012
Eagles Get: No. 12 overall pick
The Eagles were tied to Mississippi State defensive tackle Fletcher Cox for months, and they weren't shy about moving up to get him at No. 12 overall. That decision could pay off handsomely once defensive line coach Jim Washburn molds a guy like Cox. He should be an impact player right off the bat with the talent he will have around him in Philadelphia.
The Seahawks did well to acquire a pair of mid-round picks, but it's hard to like what GM John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll did with the No. 15 pick. Taking West Virginia defensive end Bruce Irvin was the first round's biggest reach. Too many other talented pass-rushers were available to take a guy that may be nothing more than a situational player at the NFL level.
Seahawks grade: C+
Eagles grade: A-
Bengals Get: No. 27 overall pick, plus a third-round pick in 2012
Patriots Get: No. 21 overall pick
The Patriots threw the draft a curveball when they moved up to get Syracuse defensive end Chandler Jones. Years from now, we could look back on this decision as one of the reasons Tom Brady won another Super Bowl late in his career in New England. Jones is that good, and I'm sure the choice to move up six spots to No. 21 when Jones fell was an easy one for Bill Belichick and company.
Cincinnati did well to get another third-rounder, but they did miss out on the chance to draft Stanford guard David DeCastro by sliding back six spots. Wisconsin guard Kevin Zeitler was the later pick, but I'm not sure Zeitler and a third-rounder beats an elite player like DeCastro.
Bengals grade: B-
Patriots grade: A
Denver Broncos-New England Patriots
Broncos Get: No. 31 overall pick, plus a fourth-round pick in 2012
Patriots Get: No. 25 overall pick
New England proved it was serious about upgrading a defense that finished 31st overall in the NFL last season, moving up once again to get an impact player in the front seven. Alabama linebacker Dont'a Hightower is the kind of versatile player that Belichick will love to use, regardless if the Patriots employ a 4-3 or a 3-4 defense.
The Broncos received another fourth-rounder in the deal, but isn't this a win-now team with Peyton Manning's limited shelf life? The team's subsequent move out of the first round is a head-scratcher.
Broncos grade: C+
Patriots grade: B+
Baltimore Ravens-Minnesota Vikings
Ravens Get: second- and fourth-round picks in 2012
Vikings Get: No. 29 overall pick
Vikings GM Rick Spielman identified safety as a major need and then did something about it. With Notre Dame safety Harrison Smith the best available player at the position—with a big drop-off after him—Spielman pulled the trigger on a move back into the first round. Smith isn't a flashy player, but he will help a safety unit that was among the worst in football last season.
Baltimore didn't get a lot for moving down, but the slide wasn't excessive.
Ravens grade: C+
Vikings grade: B
Denver Broncos-Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Broncos Get: second- and fourth-round picks in 2012
Buccaneers Get: No. 31 overall pick
Essentially, the Broncos turned the No. 25 overall pick into a second-rounder and two fourth-rounders. Will those extra picks prove to be worth the players Denver passed on several times at the end of the first? We will have to see how Denver uses the mid-rounders later. But again, for a win-now team that needs starters for 2012, moving back seems like a risk.
Tampa Bay, on the other hand, completes a solid first round by moving back into the first to get Boise State running back Doug Martin. He will be the three-down back Tampa Bay wanted in Trent Richardson. A Ray Rice clone, Martin should get the touches necessary for a potential 1,500-total-yard rookie season in 2012.
Broncos grade: C+
Buccaneers grade: A-
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