The Tennessee Titans have agreed to trade the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NFL draft to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for the No. 15 overall pick, two second-round picks (No. 43 and 45) and a third-round selection (No. 76), the Titans announced this morning. The Titans will also receive the Rams’ first and third-round picks in 2017.
The Titans are sending a fourth-round pick (No. 113) and sixth-rounder (No. 177) to Los Angeles to complete the trade.
The deal marked the first time since 2001 that the No. 1 overall pick has been traded. Just four years ago, the Rams shipped the No. 2 overall pick to Washington in an historic deal that netted three first-round picks and a second-rounder. The Redskins used that select on quarterback Robert Griffin III, whose career has failed to take off following a promising rookie season.
The Rams are also expected to select a quarterback at No. 1, likely either North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz or California’s Jared Goff. In making the deal with Tennessee, Los Angeles jumps the quarterback-needy Cleveland Browns, who just signed Griffin in free agency, to get a shot at their prospect of choice.
Wentz is being billed as the higher-upside choice with premium physical tools and experience in a pro-style offense. The Rams are “very high” on Wentz, while Goff is the top target for the Browns at No. 2, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.
Browns will be happy because their guy has been Goff. Rams are very high on Wentz
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) April 14, 2016
For the Titans, the trade represented an opportunity to improve a depleted roster as they accumulated six of the first 76 picks in the draft. Tennessee will pick at Nos. 15, 33, 43, 45, 64 and 76 with holes to fill along the offensive and defensive lines and in the secondary.
“Being able to acquire six players in the top 76 this year, along with next year when you factor that into it — I am assuming five in the top three rounds — that is 11 players that we can add to this football team that should not only increase our depth, but give us good quality players at all those positions,” general manager Jon Robinson said.
