Ravens Received Eight Trade Offers From Titans No. 30 Pick As Deal Was Reached
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 the team’s first-round selection.
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).
The 6-2, 175-pounder faced questions about his playing weight, but his length and agility clearly appealed to the Ravens. The cornerback finished his Clemson career having compiled three interceptions and 21 passes defended, culminating in a 2023 campaign where he earned a first-team All-ACC selection.
While the organization clearly has high hopes for their first-round pick, the team has the luxury of not immediately throwing him into the fire. Baltimore has Marlon Humphrey in place as a cornerback cornerstone, and Brandon Stephens had a productive campaign on the opposite side in 2023. Stephens, however, is set to hit free agency following the 2024 campaign, so it shouldn’t take long for Wiggins to force himself into the starting lineup.
“With the guys that we have in our room, they’re truly interchangeable,” said defensive passing game coordinator Chris Hewitt said. “[We’re] trying to get the best guys on the field. Whatever that position is, or how we get them on the field, that’s what it’s all about.”
The 2024 NFL Draft came and went and the Baltimore Ravens had themselves quite an impressive three days of work. General manager Eric DeCosta exhibited a lot of patience, didn’t make a single trade and the decision to stick and pick worked as well as he and the rest of the front office could’ve imagined as they had one great value pick after another fall to them with five of their first nine picks in total.
