Adam Peters on draft trades: If you see the guy you want, just go get him

A year ago, the Denver Broncos made a trade to move up from No. 31 in the first round to No. 26. They gave up a late third round pick to make the move, and used the pick to draft Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch.

The Broncos director of college scouting during that draft was Adam Peters. He is now the 49ers VP of player personnel, and on Thursday, he offered some insight into that trade. He did a pre-draft Q&A, and was asked about his favorite draft story. He used that as a chance to explain the value of being aggressive in trading. You can view the full interview at the bottom, but here is what he said about trading:

“My favorite story, I think was a good lesson I learned last year. I was with the Broncos, and we were trying to trade back up to get Paxton Lynch. On the trade chart, it said we were losing a little bit, as far as points, but a good lesson I learned is if that’s the guy you want, who cares what the points say, just go get the guy you want.”

In looking at the traditional trade value chart, the Broncos received 700 in points value, and gave up 724. The Jimmy Johnson trade chart is most frequently quoted, but in reality, teams usually make some modifications. The Broncos still viewed this as a loss in terms of points. They don’t know if Paxton Lynch is a long-term answer yet, but if he actually emerges as a long-term option, then sure, it’s a great trade.

It will be interesting to see just how active the 49ers are when it comes to trading. I don’t think we see them making a deal from No. 2. Everybody wants to move down, so it could be difficult to find a partner. However, trading up from later picks, most notable No. 34 will be the most interesting part of these first two days for the 49ers. If they like someone, moving from the second to the first makes a ton of sense because of that fifth year option giving the team an extra year of cost control. Maybe that’s where we see the 49ers get aggressive.