What a Trade Involving the No. 3 Pick Might Look Like

The Miami Dolphins could get a nice collection of picks if they end up trading the third overall selection

The 2021 NFL draft should be awfully interesting for the Miami Dolphins, who once again hold extra assets to continue adding to their already-improved roster.

In particular, it's the Dolphins holding the third overall selection that provides such interesting possibilities.

And one of the options for Miami is moving down to accumulate more picks after finding a trading partner hoping to move up to select a specific prospect.

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If the Dolphins indeed end up trading that third overall selection, what could they expect to get in return?

To get an idea, one could use the highly entertaining Pro Football Network mock draft simulator, which presents trade offers before every pick.

To that end, we've run the simulator several times and come up with nine different trade offers from the third overall pick.

In all nine instances, the Dolphins got four picks in return, including a later first-round pick and seven of the scenarios also included a 2022 first-round pick.

Of those nine, maybe the most enticing simulated offer would be one from the Pittsburgh Steelers, who would send the 24th overall selection, the 55th overall selection in the second round and first- and second-round picks in 2022.

The Steelers would use that third overall pick, under that simulated scenario, on Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields to become the successor to Ben Roethlisberger.

But maybe it's best to turn to historical precedent to get a true idea of what the third overall pick could net in a trade.

Since 1990, there have been seven instances of a team trading up for the third overall pick, one of them involving the Dolphins.

That, of course, would be the trade involving the now-regrettable selection of Dion Jordan in 2013.

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Here's an interesting thing about it, though: The Dolphins gave  absurdly very little in return when compared to other trades for the third overall selection. All it cost the Dolphins that year to move up from 12th to third was a second-round pick, which was the 42nd overall pick.

Now compare that to the most recent trade for the No. 3 pick, which happened in 2018.

This was the year of the quarterbacks in the draft, with Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson all available.

After the Cleveland Browns took Mayfield first overall and the New York Giants took running back Saquon Barkley with the second pick, the Jets moved up from sixth to third to grab Darnold out of USC.

But it cost them a pretty penny to do it. To move up those three spots, the Jets gave the Colts two second-round picks that year (the 37th and 49th overall selections) along with a second-round pick in 2019.

Here are the other five trades since 1990 where a team moved up to third overall:

2012 — The Cleveland Browns give up the fourth overall pick and selections in the fourth, fifth and seventh rounds to the Minnesota Vikings for the third pick and take running back Trent Richardson.

2000 — The Washington Redskins give up the 12th and 24th overall picks to the San Francisco 49ers for the third pick and take offensive lineman Chris Samuels.

1997 — The Seattle Seahawks give up the 11th pick along with picks in the second, third and fourth rounds to the Atlanta Falcons for the third pick, which they use to take cornerback Shawn Springs, and a third-round pick.

1993 — The Phoenix Cardinals give up the fourth overall pick and RB Johnny Johnson to the New York Jets for the third pick and take running back Garrison Hearst.

1990 — The Seattle Seahawks give up the eighth and 10th overall picks, along with the 64th and 101st overall selection to the New England Patriots for the third pick, which they use to take DT Cortez Kennedy, and a second-round selection.