NFL Draft: Volatile Two Weeks Included 14 Trades and Four 2022 First-Round Picks
Wednesday marks the official beginning of the third week of the 2022 NFL league year, and it would be an understatement to say the first two weeks have been franchise-altering for many teams.
There were 566 players that became unrestricted free agents as of 4 pm ET on March 16. Of that total, officially through Tuesday, 148 have signed with new teams and another 110 re-signed. The 258 players represent 45.6 percent of the available free agents.
The 148 players played in 1,946 games in 2021 (13.1 average) with 1,127 starts (7.6 average).
By officially, those are instances where the transaction has been reported to the league office, and does not include several reported agreements.
In addition to the 556 UFAs, there were another 96 players that became free agents after not receiving a minimum tender from their team as restricted or exclusive-rights free agents.
Of those 96, 16 re-signed and another 17 have signed with new teams.
Most impactful have been the 14 trades consummated in the last two weeks. Those included four quarterbacks (Deshaun Watson, Russell Wilson, Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan) and two elite wide receivers (Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill).
Those trades involved 21 picks in this year’s draft, 11 in 2023 and three in 2024. There were 16 players that changed teams.
Of the 2021 selections, 12 were in the first three rounds and the latest was the 82nd overall choice. There were four first-round picks traded, six in the second round and two in the third. In 2023, two No. 1 picks were traded along with one in the second and two in the third.
With 29 days until the draft begins, there are now eight teams without a pick in the first round: Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles Rams, Miami and San Francisco.
Most notable is that seven teams have multiple first-round selections, led by Philadelphia with three. That could make for a volatile opening round. Here are those teams and where in the round they are:
Detroit: 2 and 32 (from Rams)
Houston: 3 and 13 (from Browns)
New York Jets: 4 and 10 (from Seahawks)
New York Giants: 5 and 7 (from Bears)
Philadelphia: 15 (from Dolphins), 16 (from Colts) and 19
Green Bay: 22 (from Raiders) and 28
Kansas City: 29 (from Dolphins) and 30
