NFL teams
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Draft Countdown

Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders

With the draft a mere six days away expect rumors to fly around at a torrid pace. Two of the more intriguing proposed deals involve a couple of household names at the receiver position. Both Braylon Edwards and Anquan Boldin are reportedly being dangled for draft picks. My guess is one of them will certainly be dealt before Saturday. Which one you ask? Read on.

Anquan Boldin, not Braylon Edwards, should certainly be traded. While I've always maintained that Edwards is overrated, Cleveland cannot afford give up on him. Even if they draft Michael Crabtree at number five they're essentially cancelling out the move by trading away a known commodity in Edwards. Take into consideration that Kellen Winslow is gone and Donte Stallworth may never see a football field again, it's easy to see that the Browns need to give Brady Quinn/Derek Anderson as many weapons as possible.

Boldin is unhappy. He wants out and desperately wants to be the number one receiver for anybody. The Baltimore Ravens have been in talks with Arizona regarding the disgruntled wideout, but the price tag of a first and a third are probably too steep. Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun had an interesting take suggesting that the team may try to package Willis McGahee and/or Todd Heap along with a pick to obtain Boldin. This is a potential homerun for Arizona. Better to get something for an increasing malcontent earlier rather than later.

Mark Sanchez to the Seahawks is looking more and more like a smoke screen. While it does make sense to find an heir to Hasselback in the next couple of seasons, Seattle would be wise to find an immediate contributor with the fourth overall pick. As I've stated several times before, the NFC West crown is up for grabs every single year. A healthy Seahawks squad is still arguably the most talented. Grab a Eugene Monroe or Andre Smith and protect your franchise QB, who by the way still has two more prime years left in him.

B.J. Raji continues to make an unprecedented climb after a strange tumble just three weeks ago. The list of positive drug test offenders from the Combine came out today (funny it's 4/20) and look whose name was nowhere to be found: B.J. Raji.

As I stated on Dameshek's podcast week or so ago (listen below), Raji is too good for a team to get caught up in this character-issue fodder. He's the only DT I would take in the first round and there's no way he gets past Jacksonville at number eight.

As always, the Raiders really intrigue me heading into the weekend. They would be ecstatic if Crabtree fell to them at seven, but that's looking less and less likely. Andre Smith would be an even better choice, but the tackle seems headed to Cincy at pick number six. Oakland still needs to find guys who can get to the quarterback. It may be a stretch, but Penn St.'s Aaron Maybin and Brian Orakpo from Texas are the two guys I have penciled in as possibilities for Oakland. Orakpo looks so darn strong and Maybin has the quickest first step of any pass rusher in this draft. If only these guys could be combined into one super defender- "ORAKBIN." Wow I just got chills.
More to come.

PODCAST

I recently joined Dave Dameshek on his podcast to discuss the draft. Check it out. Mel Kiper even called in and yapped a bit.

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