The way the NFL handles limitations on draft pick trading could be heading for a change.
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that at least one NFL team will propose for a change to the league’s limit on future draft pick trading. The proposal will aim to adjust the three-year cap that’s currently in place––which prevents teams from trading picks more than three years down the line, and increase it to five years.
“There are gonna be people in the NFL, this offseason, that push to have that limit grown to five years,” Schefter told host Pat McAfee. “Right now, it’s three years in the NFL… there’s going to be a push by at least one team this offseason, to extend the NFL trade limits from three years of picks to five years of picks.”
Schefter indicates at least one team will make a push for such a change to be implemented, though there could potentially be more organizations that support it.
Increasing the trade limits on draft picks to five years would make it so that teams could further hedge their futures in order to make a stronger run at a Super Bowl. It would be more akin to how the NBA deals with draft pick trading, wherein teams are frequently offloading picks multiple years in the future in order to enhance their current roster. The NBA’s current limitation on future draft pick trading is capped at seven years. The NBA does have the Stepien Rule, however, which prevents teams from trading their own first-round picks in consecutive seasons. No such rule exists in the NFL at present.
The last time an NFL team moved three first-round picks in one trade was when the Browns dealt their 2022, ‘23 and ‘24 first-rounders to the Texans in exchange for Deshaun Watson.
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KARL RASMUSSEN
Karl Rasmussen is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News team for Sports Illustrated. A University of Oregon alum who joined SI in February 2023, his work has appeared on 12up and ClutchPoints. Rasmussen is a loyal Tottenham, Jets, Yankees and Ducks fan.
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