The Indianapolis Colts made a trade in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, trading their 48th overall pick to the Green Bay Packers in order to move down in the round (to number 57 overall) and add two more picks. By all accounts, it was a good trade for the team to be able to add picks and still get the player they would have taken at 48 in T.J. Green.
It sounds like that wasn't the first trade the Colts tried to make in the second round, however. This morning, the MMQB's Peter King took a look at the Cowboys' draft and the process they went through in determining their picks, and he had this very interesting note to add:
Dallas considered trading down to Indianapolis at 48 but didn't like the risk. The Cowboys heard—reliably, they thought—that New England was aiming to pick Smith near the end of this round. Remember the Jones/risk story. Trading down 14 slots, already having lost Ogbah? Too much risk, not enough reward.
The Cowboys picked 34th overall, the third pick in the second round. Before their pick, two pass rushers in Emmanuel Ogbah and Kevin Dodd had gone off the board, giving the clear indication that a run on pass rushers was beginning. If the Colts wanted to add an edge rusher, they probably would need to move up in the draft. It's very interesting, then, to hear this report of them trying to move up to the Cowboys' pick. Still on the board were players such as Noah Spence, considered to be a first-round talent as a pass rusher, and perhaps more interesting, Myles Jack (plus Jaylon Smith, of course). The Cowboys, however, had already lost out on a few players that they wanted - such as Paxton Lynch and Emmanuel Ogbah - and didn't want to risk losing Jaylon Smith as well, so ultimately they didn't agree to the trade.
It's unclear what the Colts were offering, but it sounds like it was enough to at least get the Cowboys to think about it. It's also unclear who the Colts were trying to move up for, but I just mentioned, it is most likely and most logical that they were attempting to move up for a pass rusher. Interestingly, the Colts didn't deny that they were interested in some pass rushers but just that, when their picks came, the value wasn't there. "There were some players that we looked at, but we felt as a group that those players came off early," general manager Ryan Grigson said of the pass rushers after the draft. Furthermore, after the first round Grigson said that they had done plenty of research looking into Myles Jack after realizing he could fall to them, so he might have been an option too.
Again, it's just speculation as to who the Colts were trying to go up to get, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't either a pass rusher (like Noah Spence) or Myles Jack. The Colts realized entering the draft that pass rush was one of their biggest needs and they likely realized as the second round began that a run on pass rushers was beginning too. That could have been the motivation for them trying to move up with the Cowboys, but ultimately, Dallas wanted to play it safe and not risk moving down. For the Colts, that meant staying at pick number 48, which they eventually traded to the Packers as they picked up more picks. All things considered, it didn't work out poorly for either side, but it's interesting to consider what the Colts might have done as they were trying to trade up in the second round.