Baltimore Ravens and St. Louis Rams: Pick a trade down option

Yesterday on Baltimore Beatdown, I wrote about the possibility of the Ravens being able to trade down with a quarterback needy team like the St. Louis Rams or Philadelphia Eagles, as the draft options for the Ravens might provide more value 5-10 picks later, especially for someone with Ozzie Newsome's draft prowess. Both top quarterbacks may still move up or down the draft board and make the point moot, but there is a decent chance either Cal QB Jared Goff or Memphis QB Paxton Lynch will still be there at the 6th pick. Since the San Francisco 49ers might be in the market for a new quarterback, this would put the Ravens in the drivers seat if teams want one of those players.

Using the Rams (with 2 picks in the first half of the 2nd round)  as a guideline since they would be the ideal trading partner in my opinion, I decided to spell out some scenario's in which we could trade down and use the extra picks to move around in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. There are many options, so I decided to make a poll to see what other Ravens fans would feel is the best path.

If you stick to the draft trade value chart:

Our #6 is worth 1600 points, and the Rams #15 is worth 1050, a difference of 550 points. The Rams also own the Eagles #43 pick (470 points) and their own #45 pick (450 points) in the 2nd round. So if the Rams sent the Ravens #15 plus #43, that would be the base of a trade up.

If the Ravens acquired the 43th pick (470), they could choose to add that to their own 2nd rounder (#36- 540 points) or 3rd rounder (#70- 240 points).

Option 1- Combine the 2nd round picks to move back into the top 20.

The 2 2nd round picks would get the Ravens as high as 16th overall (1000 points). 2 top 16 players for Ozzie? That would restock the defense with premium talent real fast.

The Ravens would end up #15 and #16 instead of #6 and #36.

Option 2- Add the Rams 2nd round pick to the Ravens 3rd round pick

Adding in their own 3rd rounder would get the Ravens as high as the 26th overall pick (700 points). If they added their high 4th round pick (96 points), they could get as high as 21st overall (800 points).

The Ravens would end up with #15 and #26 (or #21) picks instead of #6 and #70.

Option 3- Ravens 2nd round pick plus 3rd round pick

The Ravens 3rd rounder combined with their own 2nd would get them as high as 22nd overall (780 points).

The Ravens would end up with #15, #22, and #43 picks instead of #6, #36, and #70.

Option 4- Keep all the picks

With the extra 2nd round pick that would give the Raven 4 picks in the top 70: #15, #36, #43, and #70.

My verdict:

Either of the middle 2 options would really help the Ravens. With Ozzie's prowess, adding 2 1st rounders plus Perriman to the 2016 roster would be a real boon for the Ravens. The difference between the 6th and 15th picks would not bother me with what I expect to be on the board at those picks, so the gain is much more than the loss.