The NFL season is now over, and the offseason begins. The Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60. There is a brief break before the schedule resumes with the NFL Scouting Combine. During the offseason, some rule changes might be introduced, including one that involves how many draft picks you can trade in any given trade.
ESPN’s NFL insider, Adam Schefter, appeared on the latest episode of “The Pat McAfee Show” and talked about the potential for a rule change involving draft picks for the upcoming NFL season. Schefter explained that one club plans to “push” a rule change that would allow teams to include draft picks five years into the future, rather than the current rule of three years, in potential trades.
It is very rare to find a trade with picks that go out three years into the future. The standard compensation for trading an elite-level player has been two first-round draft picks.
A great example is that when the Dallas Cowboys traded Micah Parsons recently, the Green Bay Packers sent them first-round picks in 2026 and 2027.
Most recently, Deshaun Watson was the last big player traded for three first-round draft picks, when the Cleveland Browns acquired him in March 2022. The Browns sent their first-rounders in 2022, 2023, and 2024 to the Houston Texans.
This could completely change how trade negotiations work in the near future. A first-round pick will always have more value than a second-rounder, but if a team wants to be aggressive without mortgaging their entire selection of first-round picks for three years, would they try to offer a package with one first-rounder and five second-round picks instead?
It is worth noting that, despite Schefter raising the idea, he did not specify how much enthusiasm there might be around the league. These types of trades do not happen often, so the appetite to trade might vary. Any potential rule change requires 75 percent approval from the league’s 32 team owners. The NFL selection committee typically proposes rule changes at the league meetings in March, and they will be discussed over that.
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