Three teams who could realistically make a first-round trade in the NFL Draft

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals are currently sitting at No. 3 in the first round. It's a spot that ESPN NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper has described as "the key to this entire draft." 

Arizona has a laundry list of issues. Those concerns have made it so that most people expect the Cardinals to go into a full rebuild. Without an obvious quarterback to take with the third pick, trading back and stockpiling picks would make a lot of sense.

Depending on how Arizona feels about Ty Simpson, it could also make noise later in the draft. In particular, if the Cardinals trade back into the first round to take the Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys are looking to add a star in this NFL Draft. Preferably, that star will be playing on the defensive side of the ball, which sorely cost the Cowboys in 2025. However, picking at No. 12, they may need to move up to get the player of their dreams.

One thing that's going to help Dallas move up, if necessary, is that it has two first-round picks to play with this year. That's a lot of capital, which should make it easier to move up than it normally would be.

New England Patriots

After making a run to the Super Bowl, the Patriots have the No. 31 pick in the NFL Draft. However, that Super Bowl run also exposed several needs that they need to address. So, trading up to grab a player they love, or backwards to stockpile picks, would make some sense. Head coach Mike Vrabel did address this possibility, but remained vague.

“Maybe we trade up. Maybe we trade out. I don’t know,” Vrabel said. “But I love being able to work with Eliot and Ryan and their staff, and coaches, and try to bring that together.”

For now, it's a wait-and-see situation with the Patriots. However, they will certainly be receiving calls from teams trying to get back into the first round once the draft rolls around.