NFL.com Names Six Potential First-Round Trades That Could Rock the 2026 NFL Draft

The 2026 NFL Draft kicks off Thursday night in Pittsburgh, and if history is any guide, the first round will not go quietly. Four trades were made during Round 1 last year. Five the year before. Six in 2023. NFL.com asked its analysts to name the trade they most want to see happen when the lights come on at the draft, and the six scenarios they produced cover everything from a Harbaugh-brother deal to a Raiders quarterback investment to the Cowboys swinging for the fences on defense.

Here is what could blow up Round 1.

The Harbaugh Brothers Make a Deal: Chargers Land Dexter Lawrence

NFL.com editor Gennaro Filice floated the most immediately combustible scenario on the board: Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh calls his brother John, now the Giants’ head coach, and trades for Dexter Lawrence.

The pitch writes itself. Lawrence has formally requested a trade after two seasons of failed extension talks in New York. The Chargers have significant cap space and a defensive front that could use a 6-foot-4, 340-pound interior force. Los Angeles holds the 22nd overall pick, which Filice suggests as the centerpiece of a deal, potentially sweetened by wide receiver Quentin Johnston, whose name has surfaced in trade rumors this offseason. The Giants need receiver help. Johnston gives them a live body at a position of need.

The brother angle is a hook, but the football logic holds up independently. Lawrence is a four-time Pro Bowler entering what should be a prime season at 28. The Chargers are built to compete now under Jim Harbaugh. And Lawrence would get the new contract he has been pushing for. The question is whether the Giants can get fair value when any acquiring team also has to pay Lawrence a raise on top of the trade cost.

Cowboys Vault to No. 4 for Sonny Styles

Dan Parr, NFL.com’s senior draft strategy editor, wants to see the Cowboys be aggressive. Dallas’s defense collapsed last season, allowing the most points and passing yards per game in the NFL in the first year after trading Micah Parsons. The Cowboys hold two first-round picks, including No. 20, which came back in the Parsons deal.

Parr’s scenario: Dallas trades up all the way to No. 4, currently held by the Titans, to get ahead of the Giants at five and land Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles, who is drawing Brian Urlacher comparisons from NFL.com’s own Daniel Jeremiah. The price would be steep. Trading from 20 to 4 requires significant capital. But sitting at 12 carries its own risks if Styles comes off the board before Dallas picks.

Jets Navigate Up for a Receiver

Eric Edholm, NFL.com’s lead draft writer, predicts a relatively quiet Round 1 overall but wants to see the draft-rich Jets make a move. New York holds two second-round picks at 33 and 44 alongside their second first-rounder at No. 16. Edholm’s scenario involves the Jets packaging one of those second-rounders to jump up ahead of receiver-hungry competition and secure a wideout with a fifth-year option attached.

The Jets are a team with genuine offensive weapon needs and the capital to act. With multiple teams potentially chasing receivers in the same range, moving slightly earlier rather than later could be the difference between landing a target and watching him go elsewhere.

Lions Move Up for Spencer Fano

Chad Reuter wants to see the Lions get aggressive on the offensive line. Detroit currently picks 17th. Reuter’s scenario has the team trading up to secure Utah offensive tackle Spencer Fano, whose physicality and attitude fit the culture Dan Campbell has built in Detroit.

The pitch involves Fano stepping in at right tackle with Penei Sewell shifting to the left side to replace Taylor Decker. The Lions have not been shy about taking chances on talented prospects with question marks, pointing to Sewell himself as an example, and Fano’s sub-33-inch arm length has raised questions about his long-term home at tackle. Detroit, however, is not a team that has historically let measureables talk them out of a football player they believe in.

Bengals Leap Into the Top Five

Nick Shook’s scenario involves Cincinnati making an aggressive move before the Giants pick at five. The Bengals select 10th and need to continue building their defense, particularly at the second level. With Joe Burrow having openly expressed frustration about the team’s defensive struggles, Shook envisions Duke Tobin working the phones to jump into the top five and land either Sonny Styles or Ohio State defensive lineman Arvell Reese. The in-state angle would be a bonus.

The cost would be significant. Trading from 10 to inside the top five requires giving up future capital that Tobin may not be willing to part with. But the pressure to show Burrow the organization is committed to building around him is real, and blue-chip defensive prospects worthy of that investment do not come around every year.

Raiders Double Down on Indiana, Move Up for Omar Cooper Jr.

Matt Okada’s scenario is the most niche but potentially the most rewarding. Las Vegas selected Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza in a previous round of this offseason’s draft modeling, and Okada wants the Raiders to invest further in that relationship by moving up from their second-round slot at 36 to land Mendoza’s favorite college target, Indiana wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr.

Trading from 36 into the late first round is achievable. The Eagles at 23 are identified as a potential trade-down partner, sitting just ahead of the receiver-hungry Browns. Cooper Jr. would arrive with a fifth-year option and prebuilt chemistry with the quarterback the Raiders are building around. The bet is on continuity paying off.

What to Watch Thursday Night

The Raiders’ openness to trading the first overall pick has been publicly acknowledged by GM John Spytek, who confirmed the team has received calls. That alone sets the stage for the draft’s opening moments to be unpredictable. Stack the Dexter Lawrence situation on top of that, add the Cowboys sitting on two first-rounders with defensive urgency, and the Jets holding a pile of capital with positional needs, and Thursday night in Pittsburgh has the conditions for genuine chaos.

Four trades in Round 1 last year. The conditions exist for more this time.