It became obvious that the Green Bay Packers coveted left tackle Jason Spriggs when they traded a fourth and seventh-round pick in addition to their second-rounder to move up nine spots in the second round on Thursday.
As an interesting aside, the Packers must have assumed the Chicago Bears were going to take Spriggs. The trade with Indianapolis landed the Packers one pick ahead of the Bears.
When addressing the media, Packers general manger Ted Thompson spoke of the urgency to make the move.
“We were sweating it, looking at the board and it just didn’t look like the board would hold up. We’re always making phone calls, talking to other teams and there came an opportunity to get, in my opinion — it may have been a little conservative on my part — but I felt like I’d rather have him than risk losing him,” Thompson said.
“We really wanted to make him a Packer right about there. We felt like we were dancing with the devil if we waited too much longer.”
And that’s about as excited at Ted Thompson has even been.
The guy doesn’t trade away draft picks. He hoards them, but he dumped two of them for Spriggs.
Who cares about the seventh-rounder? That guy probably isn’t making the team anyway.
However, the Packers gave up their first fourth-rounder (No. 125). Luckily, they still have two more compensatory selections in the round, but fourth-rounders are valuable. You don’t usually get a day one starter, but you often get a future star.
The Packers have picked up defensive end Mike Daniels and guard Josh Sitton in the fourth round. They added linebacker Jake Ryan last year, so there’s value to be had.
That being said, the offensive line is due for an overhaul. Maybe not this year, but without a doubt in 2017.
It looks like Spriggs will be the cornerstone of that overhaul.