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Pound the Table is almost over as the draft is just six days away. Today, we have long-time BGNer, Imp, pitching his trade scenario to the masses. Here is what Imp thinks could be a great option for the Birds if they want to trade down:
The Dolphins had one thing in mind during the offseason: win now. Ryan Tannehill needed an upgrade to the receiving group to throw to, so they made the first splash of the offseason by signing Mike Wallace to a big $60 million contract. Next they reeled in Dannell Ellerbe and John Phillip Wheeler to boost up the linebacker corps. When Sean Smith left the team, the Dolphins brought in Brent Grimes to help out with the cornerback situation. These were all sorts of big name guys to helped fill in any holes the team had.
However, the Dolphins have not fixed every issue. Another player departed from the team, two-time All-Pro left tackle Jake Long. With Long gone, a hole appeared on the offensive line. Unlike before, there was not any left tackle to sign and plug into to protect Tannehill's blindside. Some of their options were Eric Winston, Andre Smith, and Tyson Clabo - all of which were players that primary played in the right tackle spot, not the left tackle spot. So where can the Dolphins get that left tackle they need?
Good news for them, the upcoming draft has a bunch of option with tackles. Luke Joeckel, Eric Fisher, and Lane Johnson all highlight a tackle class with excellent upside and ability to start right away. They are all great prospects to have by any team that is in dire need of a left tackle.
Unfortunately for the Dolphins, owner of the 12th overall pick, being a great prospect means going high in the draft. All three of the players could go within the first seven picks. That is including the very first pick; the Chiefs are likely starting off the draft by selecting Luke Joeckel. Then, within the next six picks, as many as four teams could have interest in or need a tackle to help out their offensive line: Raiders, Eagles, Lions, and Cardinals.
With that in mind, the Dolphins would need to trade up to get either Fisher or Johnson (assuming Joeckel is the first pick in the draft). If they try to wait, all the tackles will be gone by that point. They could try trading up to the Browns' spot at 6th overall and hope that one of the two tackles are still there, but with Raiders, Eagles, and Lions right before them, the likely hood of that is low. So they would need to go a bit higher. The best case is trying to trade up to Eagles' spot at 4th overall, leapfrogging all but the Raiders in the process.
Why would the Eagles trade down? Well, the Eagles has a lot more issues than just one tackle spot. Plenty of starters are an unsure things; Jason Peters, Todd Herremans, Jason Kelce, DeSean Jackson, and Kenny Phillips are coming from a season where they all miss a lot of time and the likes of Trent Cole, Cary Williams, Patrick Chung, and Connor Barwin coming off a mediocre to poor season. So the team need more picks, more so than just one damn good player to right things. The Eagles lack depth throughout the team; offensive line, defensive line, and safety could all use better backups.
So a trade would greatly benefit both teams - Dolphins gets that one player that they really need and Eagles get some extra picks to help fill out their roster with talent. With that in mind, a possible result would be:
Eagles get:
-Dolphins 1st rounder (12th overall)
-Dolphins 2nd rounder (42nd overall)
-Dolphins 3rd rounder (77th overall)
Dolphins get:
-Eagles 1st rounder (4th overall)
Dolphins select: Eric Fisher/Lane Johnson (depending on what Raiders do one spot above)
This would seem both fair and realistic. The Dolphins possess extra 2nd and 3rd round picks (from trading Vontae Davis and Brandon Marshall, respectively, last offseason). There would not be concerns from the Dolphins side about not selecting in the two rounds. On the other side, the Eagles would be able to get a number of solids players with extra 2nd and 3rd round picks to go along with their already high original picks.
Next up, we have AndersJ with the final trade scenario for the number 4 pick as well as the final Pound the Table of the 2013 NFL Draft.