2018 April - Pro Football Rumors

Packers Acquire Panthers’ No. 88 Pick

April 27th, 2018 at 9:20pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Packers have acquired the No. 88 pick from the Panthers, Carolina announced. Green Bay will sacrifice pick Nos. 101 and 147.

Green Bay used this selection to draft linebacker Oren Burks out of Vanderbilt. Burks did not serve as a pure pass rusher with the Commodores; he registered 116 tackles as a senior last season and stopped seven ball-carriers behind the line of scrimmage.

Having made 228 career tackles, Burks could be set to come in and play on the inside in Green Bay’s defense and join the likes of Jake Ryan and Blake Martinez. Burks spent the first two seasons of his career as a defensive back before being moved to linebacker as a junior.

Steelers Trade Up To Seahawks’ No. 76 Spot

April 27th, 2018 at 8:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

It’s possible the Steelers have located their quarterback of the future. At least, they’re making a reasonable investment in one.

The Steelers have traded up to the No. 76 draft slot and selected Mason Rudolph. The Seahawks are trading down to allow for this to occur. Seattle will acquire Pittsburgh’s No. 79 choice and a seventh-rounder, No. 220, per Brady Henderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

Viewed by many as the sixth-best quarterback prospect in this year’s prospect pool, Rudolph is the sixth QB selected. He’s also the first passer the Steelers have chosen in the first three rounds since Ben Roethlisberger in 2004. Pittsburgh used a 2017 fifth-rounder on Joshua Dobbs and still has Landry Jones on the roster.

The 6-foot-5 Rudolph put up monster numbers last season with Oklahoma State — 4,904 air yards, 37 touchdown passes and a 65 percent completion rate — and represents a move by the AFC North champions to install a possible Roethlisberger successor. Rudolph started for three seasons in Stillwater, Okla., operating in a passer-friendly system. He figures to have plenty of time to learn the pro game.

Unlike last offseason, Pittsburgh’s 15th-year starter did not publicly consider retirement. He’s now indicated he wants to play multiple additional seasons. Rudolph figures to be a longer-lens investment and could usurp Jones and Dobbs in Pittsburgh’s passing pecking order in the months to come.

Chiefs Move Into Ravens’ No. 75 Position

April 27th, 2018 at 8:44pm CST by Sam Robinson

Shortly after trading out of the No. 65 draft slot, the Ravens are moving down again. The Chiefs will now pick at No. 75, and they’ll supply the Ravens with an additional fourth-round selection to do so.

Kansas City will send the No. 86 and No. 122 picks to Baltimore, per Jeff Zreibec of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter), and will use the pick on Derrick Nnadi — a defensive lineman from Florida State.

This marks the second time the Chiefs have traded up tonight and the second time they’ve used a pick on a college defensive lineman, although they’ve said Breeland Speaks will start out at outside linebacker in their 3-4 set.

Whereas Speaks will play on the outside in K.C., Nnadi figures to help inside. The Chiefs lost Bennie Logan in free agency and don’t have an obvious successor at nose. The 312-pound Nnadi registered 9.5 sacks and 20.5 tackles for loss while playing inside for the Seminoles the past two seasons.

Raiders Acquire Ravens’ No. 65 Pick

April 27th, 2018 at 8:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Raiders are moving to the top of the third round and will use multiple picks to make that jump, Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweets.

Oakland acquired the No. 65 choice from the Ravens and will send Nos. 75, 152 and 212 to Baltimore. The Raiders used the pick to draft another offensive lineman, North Carolina A&T’s Brandon Parker.

The 6-foot-7 Parker will follow the 6-9 Kolton Miller to the Bay Area as offensive line reinforcements. The Silver and Black are in need of right tackle help and have Donald Penn entering his age-35 season on the left edge. Each of Oakland’s three 2018 picks so far have come on the lines, with second-round defensive lineman P.J. Hall joining the blockers as the newest Raiders.

Browns Trade No. 64 Pick To Colts

April 27th, 2018 at 8:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Colts moved back into the second round and will make the final pick. They acquired the Browns’ No. 64 overall choice to do so.

One of the picks acquired in the 2016 Carson Wentz trade now goes to the Colts, who used it to draft Ohio State defensive lineman Tyquan Lewis.

Indianapolis will send its third-round pick, No. 67, to Cleveland, which also will receive a sixth-rounder (No. 178), per Nate Ulrich of ohio.com (on Twitter). Lewis served as a consistent weapon for the Buckeyes, going back to Joey Bosa‘s final season. Lewis combined to register 23 sacks from 2015-17, never dropping below 7.0 sacks in those seasons.

Patriots Move Up, Get Bucs’ No. 56 Pick

April 27th, 2018 at 7:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

Before the draft’s Day 2 hit the two-hour mark, the Patriots have a three-trade night. Per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (Twitter link), New England is moving back up — to the No. 56 spot — and Tampa Bay will receive compensation.

The Bucs will receive an additional fourth-round pick (No. 117) for moving down and sliding into the Pats’ No. 63 spot, Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The Patriots, who moved back twice via two other trades with NFC teams tonight, are taking Florida cornerback Duke Dawson.

Playing in a Gators secondary that in 2016 housed Teez Tabor, Quincy Wilson and Marcus Maye, Dawson played a bigger role as a senior in 2017 and intercepted a career-high four passes. This marks the seventh cornerback taken thus far.

Dawson marks the second corner the Pats have added this offseason, following Jason McCourty to New England. He’ll join a corner corps that lost Malcolm Butler via free agency.

Patriots Trade No. 51 Choice To Bears

April 27th, 2018 at 7:25pm CST by Sam Robinson

After standing pat with both of their first-round picks, the Patriots are up to their usual tricks on Day 2 of this draft.

The Pats are sending their No. 51 overall pick to the Bears, Jeff Howe of The Athletic tweets, and they’ll acquire a 2019 second-round choice to do so. Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets the Pats will receive the ’19 Round 2 choice and a Chicago fourth-rounder (No. 105) in this year’s draft.

The Bears will use the higher draft slot to select Memphis wide receiver Anthony Miller, who dominated American Athletic Conference competition the past two seasons. Miller posted back-to-back 1,400-plus-yard seasons and totaled 32 receiving TDs in that span.

New England has now traded down twice in the second round, sending both picks to NFC North teams. The Lions moved up to select Kerryon Johnson earlier in this second round.

Miller will join a nearly completely revamped Bears wideout corps, following Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel and Bennie Fowler to the Windy City.

Eagles Trade Up, Acquire Colts’ No. 49 Pick

April 27th, 2018 at 7:17pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Eagles will make their first pick in this year’s draft, moving up into the Colts’ No. 49 slot to do so, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

With this newfound draft real estate, the defending Super Bowl champions will add to their tight end mix by drafting Dallas Goedert. They may well have made this move to slide in front of the Cowboys, who pick at No. 50, with Jason Witten likely to retire.

Brett Bensley of Fox 59 tweets the Eagles will send the Colts the No. 169 selection in order to move up three spots and select the South Dakota State pass-catcher. Goedert will join an Eagles team that released Brent Celek last month.

As for the Cowboys, they were mentioned as being interested in Courtland Sutton — who went at No. 40 to the Broncos — and are likely set to see their franchise’s all-time great tight end go into broadcasting.

Chiefs Land Bengals’ No. 46 Selection

April 27th, 2018 at 7:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Chiefs did not have a pick until the No. 54 selection, but they’ve now acquired the Bengals’ No. 46 spot. Rumors throughout the day indicated Kansas City was interested in moving up, and Ian Rapoport reports (on Twitter) they did so.

The Bengals gave up No. 46 and No. 100 to the Chiefs and received K.C.’s No. 54 and No. 78 picks, Paul Dehner Jr. of Cincinnati.com tweets. Cincinnati now owns picks 77 and 78, the latter choice came to the Chiefs from the Redskins in the Alex Smith trade.

While reports on Friday had the Chiefs interested in moving up for a cornerback, they are instead going to bolster their front seven. The Chiefs are taking Ole Miss defensive end Breeland Speaks.

The 6-foot-3, 285-pound defender could be in line to help the Chiefs at the end or linebacker spot in their 3-4 scheme. He registered a career-high seven sacks and 61 tackles last season. This is interesting because the Chiefs took ‘tweener-type edge man Tanoh Kpassagnon in the second round last year.

Redskins Send No. 44 Pick To 49ers

April 27th, 2018 at 6:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

The 49ers made a move up into the top half of the second round, dealing with the Redskins for the No. 44 pick.

With the selection, San Francisco added to its receiving corps. Washington slot speedster Dante Pettis will be en route to the Bay Area. The 49ers traded Nos. 59 and 74 to the Redskins for their Nos. 44 and 142 selections.

The 49ers were not enamored with the free agent wide receiver contingent and instead have turned to the college ranks to add to their group, one fronted by Pierre Garcon and Marquise Goodwin.

A 6-foot-1 pass-catcher, Pettis served as a key weapon for four Huskies squads. His best year came in 2016, when the Huskies stormed into the College Football Playoff, when he caught 15 touchdown passes.