How often has the No.1 NFL draft pick been traded
There is a growing expectation around the NFL that the Tennessee Titans – who currently hold the No.1 pick in next month’s draft – will select standout quarterback prospect Cam Ward.
But for months now there have been rumours that the Titans might actually prefer to trade the top pick, taking advantage of the desperation of a few quarterback-needy teams below them in the order to accumulate a haul of future draft assets instead.
It’s thought that any team with designs on Tennessee’s No.1 overall selection would have to give up their own first-round pick in this draft, as well as multiple picks in the later rounds and even their first-rounder from next year, too.
That would be a hefty price to pay to swap places with the Titans at the top of the order, but such deals are not unprecedented.
In fact, the No.1 pick has been traded prior to the draft 13 times in NFL history.
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It first happened in 1967, when the Baltimore Colts sent quarterback Gary Cuozzo to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for the top draft choice, with which they took defensive tackle Bubba Smith.
It happened again the following year. And on that occasion, the New York Giants – who are believed to be the Titans’ most likely trade partners for the top pick this year – were involved.
But rather than receiving the No.1 pick in 1968, it was the Giants who gave it up, swapping it with the Minnesota Vikings for quarterback Frank Tarkenton in a deal agreed a year earlier that also included the No.2 pick from 1967.
The No.1 pick was traded three times in the space of five season in the 1970s. The Dallas Cowboys moved up to take defensive end Ed Jones in 1974, the Atlanta Falcons traded to take quarterback Steve Bartkowski in ’75 and the Houston Oilers gave up a sizeable haul of assets to for the chance to pick running back Earl Campbell in ’78.
One of the most famous instances of the No.1 pick being traded came in 2001, when the Falcons again moved up for a quarterback, this time exchanging the No.5 pick, a third-rounder, a future second-rounder and wide receiver Tim Dwight with the San Diego Chargers so that they could land Michael Vick at the top of the draft.
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As disappointing as it might have been for Chargers fans to miss out on an electric talent such as Vick, they did pretty well out of the deal, with iconic running back LaDainian Tomlinson their choice with the fifth pick.
The most recent trade of the top pick came just two years ago, when the Carolina Panthers gave up two first-rounders to wrestle the No.1 selection away from the Chicago Bears, with which they picked quarterback Bryce Young.
But after Young struggled in his rookie year, the Panthers finished with the NFL’s worst record the following season. That meant they handed the top pick in 2024 to the Bears, who then landed their own franchise quarterback of the future in Caleb Williams.
And if the Titans decide to trade away the top pick this year, it won’t be the first time they’ve done it.
In 2016, they received two first-round picks and further draft capital from the Los Angeles Rams, who chose Jared Goff first overall. With a second-rounder they picked up in the deal, the Titans drafted Derrick Henry.
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