5 biggest draft day trades in NFL history
The NFL draft is two weeks and two days away, with the first round taking place on April 27.
As the draft nears, there may be a shake-up in the draft order as some teams look to trade up to acquire a talent that they've been eyeing. The Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers have already made a trade that gave the Panthers the No. 1 pick.
Every draft, crazy, unexpected trades occur. Just last year, A.J. Brown was traded on draft day from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Tennessee Titans.
Here are five of the biggest draft day trades in NFL history.
Five of the biggest draft day trades in NFL history
#1, Eli Manning for Phillip Rivers
Eli Manning was traded to the New York Giants in exchange for Phillip Rivers and three draft picks.
The Chargers selected Manning No. 1, but Manning refused to play for the Chargers. Rivers was selected three picks later by the Giants at No. 4, and the two agreed to swap quarterbacks due to Manning refusing to play for them.
Manning won two Super Bowls with the Giants, and Rivers was an eight-time Pro Bowler with the Chargers, but never won a Lombardi Trophy.
#2, Saints trade up for Ricky Williams
The New Orleans Saints traded away their entire 1999 draft to the Washington Redskins to acquire running back Ricky Williams. The Saints also gave up their first- and third-round picks the following year.
Williams only played three seasons for the Saints but had two 1,000-yard seasons. He was then traded to the Miami Dolphins in 2002 for four draft picks, including two first-round picks.
Williams ended his career with over 10,000 rushing yards and 74 touchdowns.
#3, Randy Moss traded from the Oakland Raiders to New England Patriots
A year after being traded from the Minnesota Vikings to the Oakland Raiders, the Raiders traded Randy Moss to the New England Patriots.
The Raiders really traded Randy Moss to the Patriots for a fourth round pick.
His first season in New England, Moss scored 23 receiving TDs which is still the NFL record.
The Raiders used the pick on DB John Bowie. He played five games in his NFL career.
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The Patriots sent the Raiders a fourth-round pick in 2007 for Moss, and Moss had one of the best seasons ever for a wide receiver in his first season with the Patriots.
He recorded 23 receiving touchdowns, which is still the single-season record. He had two more 1,000 yard seasons for New England over the next two seasons before being traded to the Vikings.
While Moss was dominant with Tom Brady for three seasons, he never won a Super Bowl with the team.
#4, Jerome Bettis gets traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers
During the 1996 NFL draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers acquired running back Jerome Bettis from the Los Angeles Rams.
Bettis spent the first three seasons of his career with the Rams, rushing for over 1,000 yards in the first two seasons. Bettis and the Rams' third-round pick were sent to the Steelers in exchange for the Steelers' second-round pick in the 1996 draft and their fourth-round picks in the 1997 draft.
Bettis ended up having six seasons of over 1,000 or more rushing yards with the Steelers. He was selected to four Pro Bowls and two All-Pros and became a Super Bowl champion with Pittsburgh.
#5, Kansas City Chiefs trade up to select Patrick Mahomes
This is the most recent trade to happen that makes the list. During the 2017 NFL draft, Kansas City traded from pick No. 27 to 10 with the Buffalo Bills. Kansas City sent Buffalo their first-round third-round pick in 2017 and the Chiefs' first-round pick in the 2018 draft.
Mahomes has since won two Super Bowls and two league MVPs and is has been one of the NFL's best quarterbacks.
Mahomes was the first player in NFL history to sign a contract worth $500 million or more.
Which NFL trade on draft day do you think was the craziest?