2026 NFL draft trade grades: Sizing up deals for top picks - ESPN

The 2026 NFL draft is underway, and teams are spicing things up with trades. There was already a ton of action on that front entering Thursday, with seven of the 32 first-round spots switching hands in earlier deals. The movement continued in Round 1 once things got rolling. We're here to size up the biggest trades from all angles.

A lot of people say that we'll find out who won draft-day trades in three or four years. Nonsense! NFL general managers don't have the benefit of hindsight when it comes to making the trades, so why should analysts have it when evaluating them? I'm grading these deals immediately, based on the information available — just like the teams are doing.

To evaluate these deals, I'll be relying heavily on our Approximate Value-based draft pick calculations, along with important factors such as positional value, salary cap implications and short- and long-term team outlook. Trades during the draft can be enormously consequential and set the direction for a franchise for years to come, so don't sleep on the importance of faring well here.

This page will be updated with deals as they come in throughout the draft, but we're grading only the biggest ones.

NFL draft coverage:
NFL draft trade tracker

Titans get: Nos. 31, 69, 165
Bills get: Nos. 35, 66, 101

Titans grade: B-
Bills grade: B

The Titans went offense at No. 4 with Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate, and they decided not to wait until Friday to address the other side of the ball.

Auburn's Keldric Faulk was expected to go a few picks earlier, as ESPN's NFL Draft Day Predictor thought there was only a 20% chance he would be on the board at No. 31 heading into Thursday. Now, he joins a new-look defensive line that includes Jermaine Johnson II,