Has an NFL team ever long-term stockpiled draft picks?

[Reverend Conehead]

Pick a year about a decade in the future. That would be 2031 if you went exact. What if a team each year starting with the 2021 draft traded their first-round pick for the other team's 2031 pick? Then they just keep doing that year after year. Then when 2031 arrives, they have a bonanza of first-round draft picks. They could build a team from scratch from the best college talent available that year. It could be a great way to lure a high-end coach too.

Could such an approach work? Has anyone done anything like it? I can't be the first person to think this up.

 

[DFWJC]

Pick a year about a decade in the future. That would be 2031 if you went exact. What if a team each year starting with the 2021 draft traded their first-round pick for the other team's 2031 pick? Then they just keep doing that year after year. Then when 2031 arrives, they have a bonanza of first-round draft picks. They could build a team from scratch from the best college talent available that year. It could be a great way to lure a high-end coach too.

Could such an approach work? Has anyone done anything like it? I can't be the first person to think this up.

Teams do stockpile on a shorter term.
2031 is a bit extreme.
Maybe your time machine can give us some insight!
Btw, you wouldn't have to trade this year's first to get a first in the future....the trade value drops a ton each year forward that you don't get to use the pick.
fwiw

 

[Flamma]

Great question. This never occurred to me. Is it ok to trade picks that far in advance? That actually sounds like a good plan. You should kill it when that draft year arrives. Then you have 5 years. That's the window.

The only issue I see that might be a problem is signing 8-10 first round picks in one draft. Wouldn't that be a problem?

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Great question. This never occurred to me. Is it ok to trade picks that far in advance? That actually sounds like a good plan. You should kill it when that draft year arrives. Then you have 5 years. That's the window.

The only issue I see that might be a problem is signing 8-10 first round picks in one draft. Wouldn't that be a problem?

Possibly. It also goes against the "win now" mentality. As DFWJC points out also, you would not necessarily have to trade a first for a first. Maybe you trade a second or third for a first a long time away. Or you trade a first for two firsts, a first in '31 and another first in '32. I don't know the business side of football as much as others, but I'd bet there's a way to manage signing so many firsts.

This is also betting on 2031 being an excellent draft class. It could tank if that turned out to be a stinker class. So maybe split between 2031 and 2032, then after those two drafts, you have a massive infusion of young top talent.

 

[Flamma]

Possibly. It also goes against the "win now" mentality. As DFWJC points out also, you would not necessarily have to trade a first for a first. Maybe you trade a second or third for a first a long time away. Or you trade a first for two firsts, a first in '31 and another first in '32. I don't know the business side of football as much as others, but I'd bet there's a way to manage signing so many firsts.

This is also betting on 2031 being an excellent draft class. It could tank if that turned out to be a stinker class. So maybe split between 2031 and 2032, then after those two drafts, you have a massive infusion of young top talent.

But the fact remains, can you sign that many first rounders? I'm not sure it's possible.

 

[JPM]

The Rams are doing to exact opposite.

 

[Pape]

Pick a year about a decade in the future. That would be 2031 if you went exact. What if a team each year starting with the 2021 draft traded their first-round pick for the other team's 2031 pick? Then they just keep doing that year after year. Then when 2031 arrives, they have a bonanza of first-round draft picks. They could build a team from scratch from the best college talent available that year. It could be a great way to lure a high-end coach too.

Could such an approach work? Has anyone done anything like it? I can't be the first person to think this up.

max is three years.

Teams cannot trade picks beyond a three year window

 

[Reverend Conehead]

max is three years.

Teams cannot trade picks beyond a three year window

Okay. Wouldn't work then, at least not as I've described it. Some teams have had player clearing houses in exchange for draft picks. That's how we got Amari Cooper from the Raiders, but super long-term stockpiling won't work.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

I’ll trade you a 2048 3rd round pick for your future backup QB.

 

[Uncle_Hank]

Closest thing would be what the Browns were doing a few years ago before they decided to start overspending on veterans like ODB.

There's definitely a way to moneyball draft picks like that, but so far no NFL front office has shown the discipline to stick with it.

 

[TexasBoys2288]

With as many 1st round draft busts as there are in the NFL, you'd probably wind up 2 career players.