maybe the total of the 2 contracts for 1st and 3rd would have been too much for them. I don't know. It seems like an obvious trade to me. bc they could signed Smith like 20 million less at #1 and then paid something closer to Ryan money at #3. it makes sense from a personnel and money standpoint to me. maybe they fell in love with the TE. who knows??

the money they paid last for the OT position was for a RT. they will need a LT soon. I really wish we could have pulled that trade and got Bakkus or Backus. can't remember the spelling. but he could have played RT or G for us. He was the Lions starting LT last year. I would have loved that. getting #20, #33 and Backus for the #3 pick. wishful thinking I guess.

If you trade I think you are still stuck with your rookie cap as calculated by what you have entering into the draft.

No, the allocation is made to the team that actually picked in that spot. So with a draft and trade like Manning and Rivers the Chargers rookie pool was based on them drafting #1 overall and the Giants was based on them drafting 4th. But with a regular old trade for a draft slot the allocation goes with the pick.

Exactly. Signing two top 5 picks might preclude signing ANY of your other draft picks. It's not a tenable situation.