Over the last several weeks, the Tennessee Titans have insisted to anyone who would listen that they were willing to trade the top overall pick in the upcoming 2016 NFL Draft. It turns out that they weren't bluffing.
The Titans have traded the No. 1 pick to the Los Angeles Rams, and the deal is a big one.
Terms of the deal: Titans gets LA’s 1st, 2nd, 2nd, & 3rd in 2016, 1st & 3rd in 2017. LA gets Titans’ 1st, 4th & 6th in 2016.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 14, 2016
The Titans will receive L.A.'s first-round pick this year (No. 15), both of their second-round picks and their third-round pick. Tennessee will also receive L.A.'s first- and third-round picks in 2017. In return, the Titans will send the Rams their first-round pick (No. 1), and a fourth- and a sixth-rounder in 2016. That's a big haul going both ways.
If you'll remember, the Rams made a similar blockbuster deal with the Washington Redskins in 2012, though the slew of picks were incoming rather than outgoing. That trade saw them collect two additional first-rounders and a second-rounder as the Redskins moved up the draft board to select Robert Griffin III. But that move involved the No. 6 and No. 2 picks, where as this trade sees the Rams moving up 14 total spots. That's a lot of ground to cover.
The Rams undoubtedly made this deal for the sole purpose of grabbing a quarterback at the top of the draft, something that head coach Jeff Fisher has discussed recently. However, it must be noted that this year's top QB prospects - Cal's Jared Goff and North Dakota State's Carson Wentz - aren't nearly as highly regarded as Andrew Luck and RGIII were four years ago, nor are they as touted as Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota. This move goes to show you how desperate the franchise is for a quarterback.
We'd expect the team to take Goff over Wentz when the draft does finally begin. Goff started three years at Cal and is coming off a season in which he completed 64.5 percent of his passes while throwing for a whopping 4,714 yards with 43 touchdowns against just 13 interceptions.
Wentz, meanwhile, missed time due to injury last season, but he still managed to complete 62.5 percent of his passes while averaging 235.9 passing yards per game and throwing for 17 touchdowns against just four picks. He also ran for 294 yards an additional six scores.
We'll find out for sure which player the Rams prefer when the 2016 NFL Draft begins on April 28.
