These Teams Should Consider First-Round Trades in the 2026 NFL Draft

This can often be seen as a loaded question. Fans spend so much time making their own impressions of prospects, even building personal big boards. Many do not want their team giving up a first-rounder and future assets to move up, or deal their current pick to move down.

Yet, trades in the first-round of the NFL draft are a reality. They happen everywhere. As MyTopSportsbooks.com notes, some sites have NFL draft betting odds for prospective trades. This isn’t by accident, or by preference. It’s a necessity.

According to Matt Okada of NFL.com, an average of 12 first-round picks per draft are traded each year. While this year could be different, one way or another, we can guarantee that at least a handful of first-round picks will be on the move. As for which teams should be the ones doing the wheeling and deal, that is what we’re here to answer.

Kansas City Chiefs

First-Round Pick(s) Held: No. 9

Trade Up or Down: Up

So long as Patrick Mahomes is standing upright, the Chiefs probably don’t plan on selecting inside the top 10 again anytime soon. This is a huge opportunity for them to add a long-term difference-maker.

At the same time, with clear needs at wide receiver and on the edge, they may not get first-choice types this low.

Players like Carnell Tate (WR), Arvell Reese (Edge/LB) and David Bailey (Edge) are all projected to go before Kansas City on the block. The Chiefs shouldn’t hesitate to move extra equity in the hopes of securing any one of these three.

And hey, we all remember what happened the last time the Chiefs struck a trade to move further up the top-10 board. They ended up with Mahomes himself, in 2017, at No. 10.

New Orleans Saints

First-Round Pick(s) Held: No. 8

Trade Up or Down: Down

How’s that saying go? Oh, right: Death, taxes and…Saints general manager Mickey Loomis never, ever, ever, ever trading down.

This reality pours cold water all over this thought exercise. But hey, we aren’t here to predict, per se. We are here to instruct.

In this case, though, we are here to employ.

Though the Saints saw a lot of growth and development from youngsters last season (shout-out Kelvin Banks Jr.), they weren’t exactly a youthful squad. On the contrary, they ranked 10th in the average roster age.

Combine this with the fact that New Orleans won just six games, finishing last in the desultory NFC South, and this franchise needs to focus on collecting first-round picks en masse.

To that end, trading down from No. 8 might get them an extra selection in this year’s draft. The Dallas Cowboys, for instance, have selection Nos. 12 and 20. That’s probably steep to move up four slots on its own, but other moving parts can be involved.

Failing that, the Saints can and should consider picking up extra picks in future drafts. Teams can struggle to sell long-term build-up arcs to fanbases, but New Orleans isn’t fooling anyone. Its record last year showed how far away they remain.

Miami Dolphins

First-Round Pick(s) Held: No. 11, No. 30

Trade Up or Down: Neither, because…

The Dolphins are rebuilding. Again. For real, this time. All of which means it’s time for them to think about the bigger picture.

That should entail Miami acquiring first-round picks further out into the distance—or at least into 2027.

This doesn’t mean the Dolphins have to unload all of their first-round selections. Heck, with No. 43 and then four additional third-rounders, they might be able to snare another first-rounder without touching this year’s stable of top-32 selections.

Then again, even if it costs No. 30 to snare a future first or a collection of seconds, Miami should consider it. The new front office has that margin for error to burn, thanks in large part to the Jaylen Waddle trade. With so many inbound rookies on the horizon as a result, the Dolphins can’t incorporate all of them. They should seek to redistribute their draft-pick obligations more evenly through 2027 and beyond.

Dallas Cowboys

First-Round Pick(s) Held: No. 12, No. 20

Trade Up or Down: Down

While Cowboys should strive to keep No. 12 and address one of their many needs, they have to weigh the longer term at No. 20. Unlike other teams drafting in the top 12, they are not teeming with draft equity in the years (or even rounds) to come, as ESPN’s Bill Barnewell notes:

“[T]he Cowboys don't have the same sort of draft capital through the rest of the 2026 draft and into 2027. They don't have a second-round pick in this year's draft, and their third-rounder is 16 picks later than where it would have originally landed as a result of the George Pickens and Osa Odighizuwa swaps. The Cowboys will send the better of their two first-round picks in 2027 to the Jets, and they don't have fourth- or fifth-round picks next year, either.”

That is not the most enviable asset position in which to be. And it should have the Cowboys trying to parlay No. 20 into multiple early- and mid-round picks, all in the same of reloading their winnowing stockpile.