NFL Draft trades: What recent trends tell us about first-round deals

Here we are, just hours before the start of the 2025 NFL Draft and, amazingly, all 32 teams still have their original first-round pick. Normally, at least one team would have already borrowed from future assets and given up a first-rounder either to move up in a previous draft, or to acquire a veteran player.

In fact, during the Common Draft Era, this is the closest to a draft where no first-round picks have been traded. And while it looks like we'll start Thursday night with all 32 teams keeping their picks, it would be even more rare if it stayed that way. The league has averaged 5.6 trades involving first-round picks during the draft per year since 2020, and an examination of those deals yields some surprising observations.

What position are NFL teams most likely to use a pick on after trading up in the first round? Surprise, it's not quarterback. There have been just four of those types of trades in the past five years, and only one in the past three drafts. And it's not edge rusher either, as there have been only three of those.

The answer is receiver. There have been eight such trades in the past five years, double that of any other position. We've seen the market value of elite receivers explode in recent years, so the chance to get a top pass-catcher on the cheap with a rookie contract is something teams will actively overpay to acquire in the draft. Of the eight receivers, it's worth noting that none has made a single Pro Bowl, though you'd consider Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith and Brandon Aiyuk as solid picks, just the same.

The 28 players taken after teams traded up or into the first round of the draft break down like this: eight receivers, four quarterbacks, four cornerbacks, three edges, three offensive