What is a down-and-out franchise to do with the fifth overall pick in the NFL Draft? Trade it!
Washington Redskins general manager Scot McCloughan told the media that his hope is to add more picks, though he won't let that goal distract from adding quality players.
"Get too cute with yourself, go back too far," McCloughan said, "and all of a sudden - I have say 10-15 guys I want to pinpoint that I think can come in Day 1 and start, you go too far back and you're going to lose out on some of those guys. You've got to be careful."
The Redskins currently have seven picks in the draft this year. McCloughan said he hopes to walk away with 10. How exactly he'll go about doing that remains to be seen.
The most obvious scenario is that Washington trades the No. 5 overall pick. If both USC defensive lineman Leonard Williams and Florida linebacker Dante Fowler Jr. are off the board then this becomes easier to swallow. Plus, if both of them are off the board it probably means that Marcus Mariota is available. Mariota is rumored to be sought after by several teams (Eagles, Browns, Rams, etc.) and the Redskins could cash in on that interest.
If we want to dive deep into a conspiracy theory, McCloughan could be saying all of this publicly to possibly force a team that really covets Mariota to trade ahead of Washington, increasing the chances of one of those defensive players falling to the Skins.
Of course, Washington could also move down the draft board in rounds 2-7 to add more picks. Those selections may not fetch the same type of return as the No. 5 pick but New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has made a career of wheeling and dealing in that area.
McCloughan wants to add more picks to increase his chances of landing an impact player and infusing this team with some much needed youth. But that doesn't mean it's a trade down or bust type of scenario.
"If not we'll be OK. If we stay put at 5, we'll get a good football player at 5," McCloughan said. "You go off the board and get a pretty good idea on what team needs are, what teams are coming for and that stuff. But the last thing you do is take yourself out of a really good football player."
