A Draft-Day Trade that Makes Sense for the Colts

What could the Indianapolis Colts give up in a draft-day trade that makes sense? ESPN answers that question.

The Indianapolis Colts have done one of the hardest things in preparation for the NFL Draft... be patient.

General manager Chris Ballard resisted the urge to send a haul of picks to the Chicago Bears for the No. 1 overall pick, and his patience seems to be paying off.

There is real smoke that the Houston Texans pass on a quarterback at No. 2, and the Arizona Cardinals likely aren't interested in one at No. 3. 

If Ballard and the Colts decide they do want to move up in the draft, they'll likely do it at a discounted rate. ESPN's Jordan Reid was asked to come up with a trade scenario to move up, and he picked the Colts in a recent ESPN+ article.

The Indianapolis Colts send the No. 4, No. 79 (third round) and No. 106 (fourth round) picks, along with a 2024 third-rounder to the Cardinals. It's a hefty price, but there will certainly be plenty of teams aiming to move up to No. 3 -- Adam Schefter recently reported there are as many as six -- so this would secure the Colts the quarterback they want. If Indy likes one of the quarterbacks available, it's a better strategy than just hoping no other team jumps ahead and takes the passer it'd be targeting.

The framework of this deal is similar to the Bears-49ers trade from 2017, when Chicago came up one pick to select Mitch Trubisky. In that deal, the Bears traded a third-rounder, fourth-rounder and future third-rounder. -- Jordan Reid, ESPN+

Securing the quarterback they covet without giving up an extra first or second-round pick could be an offer worth taking for the Colts.

The Colts seem to be content with taking Will Levis at No. 4 according to the same article, but that gets complicated if C.J. Stroud is still available or a team hops them in the queue and takes Levis.

Being patient has helped Ballard build his options for next Thursday's NFL Draft. The Colts would love to have the problem of having too many quarterbacks to choose from at No. 4.

Can the Colts take that risk?

It's going to be an interesting week in Indianapolis.