The 9 Most Impactful Trades Involving Involving The First Overall Pick In The NFL Draft

The worst team in the NFL each year gets a consolation prize in the form of the top overall pick in the ensuing draft, and it can be an incredibly valuable asset that gives the franchise that ends up with the selection the opportunity to scoop up a player who can make an immediate impact.

Most teams who end up with the top overall pick in the NFL Draft end up keeping it, but there have been plenty of situations where they’ve opted to use it as leverage in a trade with other teams willing to fork over some assets in exchange to the right to have the pick of the litter.

Some of those scenarios involved situations where a player made it clear he had no plans to sign with the team that landed the No. 1 pick, while others involved franchises attempting to take advantage of a club intent on jumping the line to get the guy they desired more than anyone else.

The first pick has traded hands more than a dozen times over the years, and here’s a look at the occasions that ended up having the biggest ramifications.

2024: Panthers Inadvertently Help The Bears Draft Caleb Williams

The Panthers were intent on getting Bryce Young in the 2023 NFL Draft and gave up a bunch of future picks in order to convince the Bears to part ways with the first pick that year—including Carolina’s first-round selection in 2024.

It’s still a bit early to definitively say how that ended up working out for both sides, but it certainly seems like Carolina came out on the losing end.

All signs point to Young being one of the more notable busts in recent memory, and his struggles were a major reason the Panthers finished with the worst record in the NFL—which meant the Bears were able to use the top overall pick to select Caleb Williams.

Williams struggled to meet the lofty expectations surrounding him during his rookie year, but there’s plenty of hope he’ll be able to turn things around now that Ben Johnson has taken over.

2016: The Rams Get A QB But The Titans Get Derrick Henry

The Rams spent a few years trying (and failing) to find a suitable replacement for Matthew Stafford before deciding to go all-in on Jared Goff in 2016.

He didn’t come cheap, as Los Angeles had to fork over a bunch of picks to get the Titans to part ways with the top one. Tennessee didn’t necessarily take full advantage, although they definitely nailed the decision to use one of them to get Derrick Henry in the second round that year.

Goff was a serviceable QB for the Rams during his five seasons with the team, while Henry was an offensive juggernaut at RB during his eight with the Titans.

 

2004: The Giants Land Eli Manning

Eli Manning was the most highly-touted prospect in the 2004 NFL Draft after wrapping up his time at Ole Miss, and while the Chargers had the first pick, the QB informed them he would not play for them if they selected him.

That led to the team making a deal with the Giants where the former drafted Manning and the latter scooped up Phillip Rivers before making a trade that also led to San Diego getting some future picks.

Rivers fared pretty well with the Chargers (who also drafted Shawne Merriman with one of the picks they got in return), but he never won a Super Bowl—unlike Manning, who secured the Lombardi Trophy two times during his 16 seasons with the Giants.

2001: The Chargers And The Falcons Each Get A Franchise Player

In hindsight, it’s kind of wild that any team that had the chance to draft Michael Vick would turn down the opportunity to get the electric dual-threat QB, but the Chargers did exactly that after getting the top pick in 2001.

It’s worth noting they were still reeling from the Ryan Leaf debacle at a time when teams were still unsure if a QB with Vick’s skillset could dominate in the NFL as they did at the college level, which led to San Diego trading down to give the Falcons the right to select him.

The Chargers subsequently got the opportunity to land LaDainian Tomlinson at No. 5, and it’s safe to say the trade worked out pretty well for both parties.

1991: The Cowboys Get A Key Roleplayer In Their Dynasty

The Cowboys won three Super Bowls in the span of four seasons starting with the campaign that began in 1992, and guys like Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin tend to be the first names that spring to mind when it comes to discussing that dynasty.

However, it would be foolish to overlook the contributions of DT Russell Maryland, who the Cowboys selected with the first overall pick in 1991 after sending two of their own and three players to the Patriots.

New England wasn’t able to do much with those assets, but Maryland was a Pro Bowler who was a member of all three of the Dallas teams that won a Lombardi Trophy in the 1990s.

1983: The Broncos Get John Elway

This is another situation where a QB refused to play for a team that ended up with the first overall pick, as John Elway forced the Colts to move the Broncos were essentially handed after they were initially slated to make the fourth selection that was part of the deal.

Elway spent the entirety of his 16-year career with the Broncos while winning two Super Bowls, a regular season MVP award, and racking up nine Pro Bowl selections.

The Colts did use the fourth pick to get a solid offensive tackle in the form of Chris Hinton, but he didn’t have the same kind of impact that Elway did.

1978: The Oilers Land An MVP RB

The Oilers knew Earl Campbell had plenty of potential based on how he played at Texas, and they parted ways with up-and-coming tight end Jimmie Giles and a handful of draft picks to get the right to the first selection from the Buccaneers.

Giles was a four-time Pro Bowler in Tampa Bay who has a spot in their Ring of Honor, but Campbell was a three-time Offensive Player of the Year who won MVP honors in 1979 and was eventually inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after spending seven of his nine NFL seasons in Houston.

1975: The Falcons Get A Franchise QB

The Falcons had never made it to the postseason when they orchestrated a trade to get a promising QB before drafting Cal’s Steve Bartkowski with the first pick in 1975.

The Colts got an established tackle in the form of George Kunz and used the pick they received from Atlanta to draft Ken Huff, who went off the board at No. 3 right before the Bears swooped in to grab Walter Payton at No. 4.

Bartkowski may have posted a losing record with the Falcons during the 11 seasons he played for the team, but he still led them to the playoffs three times and had a couple of stellar Pro Bowl-worthy years where he threw at least 30 TDs.

 

1974: The Cowboys Land A Couple Of Key Assets

In 1974, the Cowboys drafted two players who’d eventually emerge as key contributors to the team.

Ed Jones was the defensive end who Dallas drafted first overall after trading two players to the Oilers in exchange for that selection and a third-rounder they used on QB Danny White (Houston didn’t really benefit from the guys it got in return).

Jones spent 15 seasons in Dallas (it would have likely been longer if the man known as “Too Tall” hadn’t taken a hiatus halfway through to pursue a short-lived career as a pro boxer) and had an interception in the team’s 27-10 win in Super Bowl XII.

White only had a couple of snaps in the game (Roger Staubach was still the starter at the time), but he eventually went  62-30 after taking the reins and led the Cowboys to the postseason five times—including three appearances in the NFC Championship Game.