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The Cleveland Browns signed quarterback Robert Griffin III two weeks ago. The San Francisco 49ers are in trade talks with the Denver Broncos on the verge of trading away quarterback Colin Kaepernick. These two situations are good for the Baltimore Ravens as these circumstances will create a lot more flexibility. The higher you select in any round, the more valuable your pick will become and that holds a lot of weight in the first round especially.
Why would the Ravens benefit from the Browns and/or 49ers?
The 49ers, if the organization can finalize the deal to trade away Kaepernick to Denver, provides the Ravens with a lot of value as the Ravens hold a very high draft pick. North Dakota State Thundar Quarerback Carson Wentz and California Golden Bears Quarterback Jared Goff are high commodities in the 2016 NFL Draft and both could be gone by the time the ninth overall pick is on the clock. That's where the Ravens come for possible trade talks with the sixth overall pick.
Mind you, the Browns could possibly have penciled in Griffin as the starting quarterback for the 2016 season and we just don't know it yet. So if the Browns select a non quarterback with its second overall pick, the Ravens sixth overall pick could very well be in the best position for opposing teams to trade up with Baltimore and select a quarterback.
Lets look at the top five picks in the 2016 NFL Draft:
- Tennessee Titans (Already have a QB in Marcus Mariota)
- Cleveland Browns (Signed QB Robert Griffin III but could still use a QB)
- San Diego Chargers (Team is set with QB Phillip Rivers)
- Dallas Cowboys (Team is set with QB Tony Romo)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (Team is set with QB Blake Bortles)
It is costly for teams to move into the top five of the draft. Doing so would involve trading at least two first round draft picks. The same could be said about the Ravens as it has the sixth overall pick.
But for teams needing a quarterback like the Philadelphia Eagles which has the eighth overall pick, and the 49ers which has the seventh overall pick, the Ravens are the next best team to negotiate with and could be cheaper to negotiate with. Or, the Ravens could be very expensive to negotiate with as the Eagles and 49ers select back to back and the pressure would be on for both teams to trade with the Ravens to get the quarterback of the future.
Either way, the Ravens are in a rich spot to make some moves. Even if the Browns select Wentz or Goff with the second overall pick, the Ravens could get even richer via trade as there could be be one quarterback left who is worthy of being taken in the top 10 of the draft.
What if the Browns take a QB with the second overall pick and the Ravens don't want to move its sixth overall pick?
That's great too. You know why? It increases the chances of defensive lineman Joey Bosa, defensive back Jalen Ramsey and linebacker Myles Jack sliding to the Ravens even though all three players could be gone by the time the Ravens select. The same applies if two quarterbacks are gone within the top five overall picks as well.
Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome and Assistant General Manager Eric DeCosta can let the draft board come to them or they can pray on QB-needy teams behind them like the Eagles, 49ers and possibly the Chicago Bears with the 11th overall pick in trading with the Ravens and grabbing more quality draft picks.
What does this all mean for the Ravens?
The Ravens are sitting pretty. The Ravens could be in a richer situation than many realized.