43°
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
7 Day Forecast
Follow our weather team on social media

Report: Despite his expected return to Ohio, the Dolphins are still hoping to land Joe Burrow

3 years 11 months 2 weeks ago Wednesday, April 01 2020 Apr 1, 2020 April 01, 2020 6:16 AM April 01, 2020 in News
Source: The Advocate
Joe Burrow Photo: LSU Athletics

LSU's Heisman-winner Joe Burrow has been expected to join the Cincinnati Bengals in his home state of Ohio. But now that he's a mere three weeks away from becoming the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, which is scheduled to begin April 23, the Miami Dolphins just might swoop in and upset what seemed to be set in stone.

The Advocate reports that Dolphins columnist Armando Salguero said as much in a recent article, "The Dolphins, as you have read in this space, will make an attempt at that opportunity at some point. It ... could be in vain because the Cincinnati Bengals are said to highly value the No. 1 pick."

It can be argued that the Bengals, who aren't in desperate need of a quarterback, haven't made any indication of moving the pick. 

But in this case, the unexpected can happen. 

The Advocate's Jeff Nowalk explains that the Dolphins own three first-round picks, Nos. 5, 18 and 26, and two second-round picks among their nine total picks in the top four rounds of the 2020 draft. They also own an extra first- and second-round picks in the 2021 draft, all of which could be worked into a monster deal to move up those four spots to No. 1.

The Bengals own all seven of their original picks, but no additional ones in either of those drafts. 

If Cincinnati did move that pick, it'd join a select number of teams that have done so. The most recent such trade came in 2016 when the then-St. Louis Rams moved up from No. 15 to No. 1 to draft quarterback Jared Goff. 

In that trade, the Rams gave the Titans the No. 15 (xx), No. 43 and No. 45 picks in that year's draft, along with the Rams' first- and third-round picks in 2017. The Rams also received a 4th- and a 6th-round pick for that year.

That draft was also notable because the Philadelphia Eagles made a blockbuster trade of their own to move up to No. 2 to select quarterback Carson Wentz.

This deal resulted in the Eagles handing over the 2016 No. 8 pick to the Cleveland Browns, along with the No. 77 and No. 100 picks, along with a 2017 first-round pick and 2018 second-round pick.  

Only time will tell if the necessary package will be available to facilitate a similar trade during the upcoming 2020 draft. 

But at least one NFL analyst thinks it won't even be necessary. 

Former NFL running back Maurice Jones-Drew released his latest mock draft on Tuesday, with a few surprises that included the Bengals choosing Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert at No. 1 overall. 

He also predicted the Los Angeles Chargers trading up from No. 6 to No. 2 with the Redskins, but using that pick to select Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. He then had the New York Giants trading up to No. 3 to select Ohio State EDGE rusher Chase Young, and the Lions using the No. 4 to choose Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown. 

Those trades all combined to hand the Dolphins Burrow at No. 5 in his mock draft, landing the Heisman winner by simply staying put. 

If Burrow did fall in the draft, it could be due in part to a lack of opportunity to show off his craft in workouts for teams at the top of the draft. After LSU's extended run to a College Football Playoff title, Burrow opted to skip on-field workouts at the NFL's scouting combine with plans to work out at LSU's pro day on April 3. That, along with virtually all other events, has been canceled.

LSU is expected to see many of its former players drafted, including multiple first-round picks.

On April 23 the draft will take place remotely as all public events originally scheduled around the Las Vegas draft event have been canceled. Commissioner Roger Goodell will make the first-round selection announcements from a central hub, and the telecasts will have connectivity at the 32 teams and potentially at some players’ or fans’ homes.

More News

Desktop News

Click to open Continuous News in a sidebar that updates in real-time.
Radar
7 Days