5:50pm: To change spots with the Texans, it would likely cost the Falcons a second-rounder and another pick this year and next year’s No. 1 pick, tweets Ed Werder of ESPN.com. Werder adds that terms would be negotiable, however.
3:52pm: When I asked last week what the Texans should do with the first overall pick in the 2014 draft, more than 30% of you said the team’s best move would be to trade down. And it sounds like rival executives around the NFL agree with that assessment. ESPN.com’s Ed Werder reports (via Twitter) that other teams expect the Texans to trade down, perhaps to the Falcons’ spot at No. 6. Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link) is hearing similar whispers, writing that there’s “no shortage of execs” who believe the Falcons look like Houston’s best potential trade partner.
According to La Canfora, the Falcons remain “very focused” on Jadeveon Clowney, and are expected to put him through a few drills on Friday when they visit South Carolina. Clowney’s agent, Bus Cook, indicated earlier in the month that his client was essentially shutting down workouts for teams, electing not to do anything that would risk injury. As such, the fact that the young pass rusher appears willing to run some drills for the Falcons is noteworthy.
Clowney is viewed as the top prospect in this year’s class, and is a lock to come off the board within the first five picks, so Atlanta will need to trade up to have a shot at him. As La Canfora notes, the Texans are “very open” to trading down, and Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff is no stranger to blockbuster draft-day trades — the GM notably gave up a handful of picks to land wide receiver Julio Jones in 2011.
Still, despite a number of signals pointing toward a possible deal between the Texans and Falcons, nothing is imminent at this point. And as Albert Breer of the NFL Network points out (via Twitter), the general consensus suggests there’s a clear-cut top four prospects at the top of the draft: Clowney, Sammy Watkins, Greg Robinson, and Khalil Mack. All four of those players could be unavailable at No. 6, so the Texans may not be inclined to move down that far, though Blake Bortles could also be an option for Houston.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
The Texans would be crazy not to take that. At 6, one of those top 4 guys, Bortles, Manzeil or even Matthews would still be there, then you have 2 second rounders to play with. Not to mention next year’s 1’s.