The Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles announced on Wednesday that they have completed a trade involving the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. The Browns sent Philadelphia a 2017 fourth-round pick in addition to the second selection in this year's draft, receiving in exchange Philadelphia's No. 8 overall pick (previously acquired from the Miami Dolphins in the Kiko Alonso-Byron Maxwell trade) as well as picks No. 77 and 100 this year, and the Eagles' first-round pick in 2017 and second-round pick in 2018.
#Eagles have agreed to a trade with the Cleveland Browns to acquire the second-overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. pic.twitter.com/SdJSegMy4m
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) April 20, 2016
Whenever a bunch of draft picks are on the move, it's worth consulting the draft value chart to see which team "won" the deal. Of course, who actually wins will not be determined until the careers of the players that actually get selected with these picks play out, but it's always good to know which team got more "value" in a deal.
We'll use two different draft value charts to make this determination. The first is the Jimmy Johnson chart originally popularized when Johnson was with the Cowboys in the early 1990s and still in use by many teams today. On that chart, here's how things shook out.
Eagles receive:
- No. 2 pick (2,600 points) in 2016
- Fourth-round pick (44-112 points) in 2017
Browns receive
- No. 8, 77, 100 picks (1,705 points) in 2016
- First-round pick (590-3,000 points) in 2017
- Second-round pick (116-265 points) in 2018
On the Jimmy Johnson chart, this year's No. 2 pick is worth 2,600 points, while the 2017 fourth-round pick is worth anywhere from 44 points (No. 128) to 112 points (No. 97). That means the range of value Philly received is anywhere from 2,644 to 2,712 points.
The Browns received No. 8 (1,400), 77 (205), and 100 (100) this year, bringing their 2016 total to 1,705 points. Philadelphia's first-rounder in next year's draft can bring anywhere from 590 (No. 32) to 3,000 points (No. 1), while the 2018 second-round pick can yield 116 (No. 64) to 265 points (No. 33). Cleveland's possible total, then, ranges from 2,411 to 5,015 points, with the actual value likely falling somewhere close to the middle of that range.
Meanwhile, we can also use the draft value chart created by Chase Stuart of Football Perspective, which uses the average Approximate Value created by players selected with each draft pick while on their rookie contracts to determine the value of each pick. (For a more thorough explanation, read this, but that's the general idea.)
Here's how the value shakes out on Stuart's chart.
Eagles receive:
- No. 2 pick (30.2 points) in 2016
- Fourth-round pick (3.7-5.5 points) in 2017
Browns receive:
- No. 8, 77, 100 picks (33.6 points) in 2016
- First-round pick (12.5-34.6 points) in 2017
- Second-round pick (8.1-12.3 points) in 2018
On this chart, the Browns won the trade on the value of the 2016 picks alone, and don't have to bank on the Eagles being bad on 2017 and/or 2018 to make up some of the excess value the No. 2 overall pick has on the No. 8 pick. It can still turn into a potential landslide if that does happen, though.
After the deal, the Eagles are left with picks No. 2, 79, 153, 164, 188, 233, and 251 in this year's draft, while the Browns no own picks No. 8, 32, 65, 77, 99, 100, 138, 141, 172, 173, 176, and 223.
The Eagles will pick only twice in the top-100 barring another trade, while the Browns have a massive six top-100 picks. Given the construction of their rosters, the Browns needed extra selections far more than the Eagles did, so it made a ton of sense for Cleveland to turn its high-value selection into more rolls of the dice in the crapshoot that is the NFL Draft.