NFL Draft 2021: 5 predictions for potential first-round trades

The 49ers, Dolphins and Eagles already shook up the 2021 NFL Draft, but what other first-round trades could happen on April 29?

All it takes is for two teams to completely shake up any given NFL Draft.

Case in point, the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins just threw the rest of the league for a loop when they exchanged pick Nos. 12 and 3 overall, essentially ensuring the Niners would grab one of the top quarterbacks while also helping guarantee second-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa wouldn’t be ousted right away in Miami by another rookie signal-caller.

Then, almost immediately afterward, the Dolphins exchanged the No. 12 pick acquired from San Francisco to the Philadelphia Eagles, moving up to No. 6 overall in the process.

Just like that, Round 1 of the 2021 NFL Draft was completely altered.

There have been plenty of additional rumors floating around since then, too. With the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets and 49ers all poised to select quarterbacks between pick Nos. 1 through 3, respectively, one could argue the draft truly starts with the Atlanta Falcons at No. 4 overall.

Not surprisingly, Atlanta’s top pick in the NFL Draft suddenly becomes a hot topic for trade speculation.

Let’s look at that potential Round 1 trade opportunity and predict what could happen, as well as four other first-round trade possibilities for April 29.

NFL Draft Trade No. 5: Broncos trade up with Falcons to No. 4 overall

ESPN’s Adam Schefter also reported the Falcons were receiving multiple calls about the No. 4 overall pick, which led to ESPN’s Field Yates suggesting three teams could be eyeing that particular selection:

https://twitter.com/FieldYates/status/1379453856850010125

Of those three teams, the Denver Broncos make the most sense and would have the easiest route to take without having to give up as much as the New England Patriots or Chicago Bears.

Denver could be looking to move on from quarterback Drew Lock, and the No. 4 spot would guarantee the Broncos a shot at either Ohio State’s Justin Fields, North Dakota State’s Trey Lance or Alabama’s Mac Jones, largely contingent upon what the 49ers do at No. 3 overall.

If the target winds up being Lance, a team like the Broncos could give Lock one more shot in 2021 while they let Lance, widely viewed as needing the most polish out of the potential five first-round quarterbacks, develop for a full season as a backup.

Meanwhile, the rebuilding Falcons could still land a top-end non-quarterback prospect while adding some much-needed NFL Draft capital for their much-needed roster reconstruction.