Ravens Received Eight Trade Offers For No. 30 Pick
May 4th, 2024 at 9:52am CST • By Ben Levine
Before the Ravens scooped up one of the draft’s top defensive prospects in Clemson cornerback Nate Wiggins, the team fielded many trade offers for the No. 30 pick. According to ESPN’s Jamison Hensley, the front office rejected eight trade offers for their first-round selection.
[RELATED: Ravens Sign First-Round CB Nate Wiggins]
The decision to turn down the trade offers wasn’t entirely due to the underwhelming returns. Instead, the Ravens were ecstatic to land a prospect of Wiggins’ caliber late in the first round. The organization didn’t expect the Clemson product to fall to No. 30, with GM Eric DeCosta declaring Wiggins the draft’s top CB prospect and defensive coordinator Zach Orr declaring Wiggins the draft’s top defensive prospect. So, when Baltimore was on the clock, it was unlikely that any trade suitor would pony up the necessary assets to get them to move on from the defensive back.
“For us, it was always, ‘If Nate [is] there, we [are] going to pick,’” DeCosta said (via Hensley). “In our opinion, [he’s] a guy that can be a true shutdown-type corner.”
The unprecedented run on offensive players allowed the Ravens to snag the elite defensive prospect. Wiggins was only the ninth defensive player off the board, and he was the third defensive back to hear his name called (after Toledo’s Quinyon Mitchell and Alabama’s Terrion Arnold).