For a good portion of the offseason leading up to the 2023 NFL draft, the Indianapolis Colts have been a team labeled as a potential suitor to trade up for the No. 3 overall pick.
If they felt convicted enough about a quarterback prospect, they could make a deal with the Arizona Cardinals, who currently hold the pick. Considering the first two selections of the draft are expected to be quarterbacks, the Colts would guarantee themselves a top-three prospect at the position by moving up.
However, it seems they are comfortable enough with all four of the perceived top prospects to the point where a trade-up is becoming less likely. It certainly could still happen over the next month, but the Colts would have to be sure the prospect they’re trading up for will be there.
So if the Colts stay put at No. 4, it does give other teams the opportunity to jump them for a quarterback prospect. A sleeper team to keep an eye on may be in the same division—a rival also in need of finding a stable option for the future.
The Tennessee Titans.
On the podcast “Move The Sticks,” NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks broke down the latter’s latest mock draft during Tuesday’s episode. On that episode, Jeremiah mentioned the Titans as a potential team to trade up to the No. 3 spot.
“Can I give you the team that I’ve been told to keep an eye on that’s exploring this and looking into this, and again, this is just people around the league who said ‘Don’t sleep on numero 11,'” Jeremiah said. “The Tennessee Titans.”
Currently, the Titans have a quarterback room consisting of starter Ryan Tannehill, who is followed on the depth chart by 2022 third-round pick Malik Willis.
That’s it.
Tannehill is entering the final year of his contract while Willis showed no semblance of being an NFL quarterback ready to take over the starting role during his small sample size of playing time down the stretch of the regular season.
With trade rumors swirling around star running back Derrick Henry, the Titans could be planning for a rebuild. The biggest key to jump-starting a rebuild? Finding their quarterback of the future.
Making that move wouldn’t be cheap for the Titans, especially since the Cardinals would be moving out of range for a blue-chip prospect like Will Anderson.
We also have a pretty solid template for what it might cost Tennessee to make that deal. In 2021, the San Francisco 49ers traded from the No. 12 spot to the No. 3 spot in order to take Trey Lance. They wound up giving three first-round picks (2021, 2022, 2023) and a third-round pick (2022).
The Titans would have to feel extremely convicted about a quarterback prospect to make that deal, and it appears it would have to be for either Anthony Richardson or Will Levis as the top of the draft seems to be taking shape.
So while it’s certainly an interesting talking point, it would seem more likely the Titans don’t jump the Colts for that No. 3 pick. We’ve seen crazier things happen, though.
This is a part of draft season that make this time of year fun. This entire discussion may be completely moot by the time April 27 is over.
But the Titans could now be added to the list of potential teams who could theoretically jump the Colts for the No. 3 pick.
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