Hey,
Good discussion points. I've enjoyed reading the contributions in this thread. Mtjhoyas... WINNING teams ARE trading down and getting good value later in the draft. Not every team is doing that. I am continually amazed at how masterfully the Patriots go about trading back and keep winning.
The Seahawks say they don't care if players are a 1st or 7th round pick. They will all compete and best player plays. But, yes... they're looking to acquire the best players to compete for spots. Rather pick sooner than later to get their guys, I'm sure.
I'll say that I think the Seahawks are leaning toward hoping to find a trade partner to trade down. If they can't, they're doing their due diligence to find a player they would deem worthy if they have to use that pick. Not thinking they just simply want to acquire more picks, but more draft currency. Loved how Schneider acquired picks to trade for Lockett. At the time, it was sort of deflating because I like a lot of prospects and enjoy seeing who the Hawks might pick. So, there were suddenly less of those. Tyler Lockett quickly made me forget about all that once on the field.
Anyway, I think we could see a similar thing this year... trading back hopefully somewhere in the top 1/3 of the 2nd round and then using the currency to trade up for another player. I don't think ONE 1st round pick and whatever is left in the late 2nd round is going to address the needs of the Hawks. They have 4 picks in the first 3 rounds. If some maneuvering could result in 5 picks in the 2nd-3rd round range, they could add several quality players that would seriously address roster needs. They may not have to choose between a couple of players, but possibly get both.
Scottemojo is right. That was a win-win trade. But, I think the Hawks got a heckuva player in Lockett. I think he will have a longer career in the league than any of those picks.
But, with as much as any of us talk about where the article falls short, I think it was excellent. I really appreciated the gist of it.