When the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft begins in an hour or so, the Panthers will be on the clock, with a pick they acquired in a trade with the Packers, who got it from the Browns.
That’s par for the course in this draft so far, as most of the picks are changing hands.
Before the fourth round even starts, 20 of the 37 picks have already been traded from their original owners. And that will obviously change as the day goes on, as the process starts and teams make moves after identifying specific players.
During the third round, 19 of the 36 picks changed hands, and and 16 of the 32 second-rounders were traded at least once. Half of the first-rounders (16 of 32) were also moved at some point in the process, which is that much more evidence that mock drafts are an exercise in futility.
The Patriots have long been proponents of draft day deals, and they traded back twice and up once last night, and picked up a 2019 second-rounder from the Bears in the process. That was one of three deals so far this weekend involving future picks, as the Ravens traded their 2019 second-rounder as part of the deal to move up for quarterback Lamar Jackson, and the Saints traded their 2019 first-rounder in the move up for defensive end Marcus Davenport.