NFL Draft rumors: Washington receiving calls for trade up to No. 2

While Detroit Lions fans remain eager to hear the latest rumor about teams getting in a bidding war to trade up with Detroit, the latest rumor suggests the Lions may not be the only team others are reaching out to.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Washington, who hold the No. 2 pick in the draft, has “begun to receive calls from teams interested in trading up.”

While that news doesn’t directly affect the Lions, it is an extremely positive development for Detroit. If there is interest in trading up for two, then it follows that there should be some interest in trading for the third overall pick. Rapoport notes that Washington isn’t “intent on moving out of the pick.” So if a team is rejected by Washington, you have to believe Detroit is the next team on their speed dial.

And even if Washington has a change of heart or gets a deal they can’t refuse, it seems quite likely that the team that offers them a bounty to trade out of the No. 2 pick will be doing so to grab a quarterback. If that’s the case, then a game-changing defensive end like Chase Young will be there for Detroit at three. And from there, the Lions could either take Young, or justify a trade down even more, knowing that either Young or his teammate Jeff Okudah will almost certainly be there at Pick 5 or 6.

Of course, given that it’s the week of the draft, you have to take this rumor with a grain of salt. While this is around the time teams start finalizing potential trades, it’s also the time of year in which general managers try to make one last-ditch effort to obscure their true intentions.