NFL Draft Rumors: This Team Doing ‘Most Groundwork’ To Trade Up

Perhaps this is recency bias, but it seems like there’s more chatter of moving around in the first round of the NFL Draft in 2021 than there has been for any draft in recent years.

But time is running out for moves to get done, as the draft is set to begin Thursday night.

There are a few teams insiders think might move out of the top 10 picks in the draft, chief among them the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers.

As for those trying to get into the top 10? The team most aggressively prepping for a big move, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, is the New Orleans Saints.

“In a relatively quiet trade market thus far, the #Saints appear to be the team doing the most groundwork for a potential trade up,” Rapoport tweeted Thursday morning. “They’ve even called into the Top 10 to gauge value. For a CB? Would be a steep price, but they aren’t afraid to be bold…”

Rapoport mentions a cornerback, but it seems hard to totally dismiss the possibility of New Orleans moving up to draft a quarterback. After all, Drew Brees retired last month, and the Saints’ QB depth chart now consists of Taysom Hill, Jameis Winston and Trevor Siemian.

The NFL Draft is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday.