{"id":224021,"date":"2025-03-22T14:30:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T18:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=224021"},"modified":"2025-03-22T12:24:18","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T16:24:18","slug":"colts-draft-exploring-the-possibility-indianapolis-trades-up-to-fill-void","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/03\/22\/colts-draft-exploring-the-possibility-indianapolis-trades-up-to-fill-void\/","title":{"rendered":"Colts Draft: Exploring the Possibility Indianapolis Trades Up to Fill Void"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout the years, Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard has made a ton of NFL draft trades. Could he trade up in the first round this year? Jon Spradley of Stampede Blue<\/a> recently touched on this subject:<\/p>\n

\u201cBallard has made trades in the draft. In fact, he loves to make them. Normally, he is stockpiling fifth-round picks, but he is known to occasionally trade up to go and get a player he really likes such as Jonathan Taylor<\/a>. One thing he has never done, however, is trade up in the first round. He has traded back, but never up. Could this be the year he finally makes that move?\u201d<\/p>\n

As Spradley noted, Ballard has never traded up in the first round. Yet, that doesn\u2019t mean he won’t do so in 2025.<\/p>\n

Will the Indianapolis Colts Trade Up in the 1st Round of the 2025 NFL Draft?<\/h2>\n

Missed out on Brock Bowers in 2024<\/h3>\n

The Colts had the 15th overall pick in last year\u2019s draft. They wound up selecting Laiatu Latu<\/a>, who was the first defensive player taken in the draft. The defensive end from UCLA had a solid debut season as he was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.<\/p>\n

However, there were rumors that the Colts were trying to trade up for Brock Bowers<\/a>. The tight end out of Georgia ended up going 13th overall to the Las Vegas Raiders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bowers was nothing short of spectacular last year, catching 112 passes for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns in Las Vegas. He was named a First-Team All-Pro and was selected to the Pro Bowl. Those are impressive accomplishments, especially for a rookie.<\/p>\n

Barring any major injuries, it appears that Bowers will be a superstar for years to come. Ballard likely wishes he could\u2019ve traded up for him.<\/p>\n

Tyler Warren to the Rescue?<\/h3>\n

Ballard was surprisingly aggressive early on in free agency this year. He bolstered the secondary on Day One, signing<\/a> cornerback Charvarius Ward<\/a> and safety Camryn Bynum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cornerback and safety were two of the Colts\u2019 biggest weaknesses heading into the offseason. Tight end, which is another huge need for the team, hasn\u2019t been addressed yet this spring. Perhaps Ballard will continue his aggressiveness and trade up for a tight end in the draft.<\/p>\n

Several mock drafts have had the Colts selecting Tyler Warren<\/a> in the first round this year. Yet, the Penn State tight will likely be off the board when Indianapolis picks at No. 14. That means the Colts will probably have to move up to get him.<\/p>\n

Warren might be the perfect pick<\/a> for the Colts. Last season, he caught 104 passes for 1,233 yards and eight touchdowns with the Nittany Lions. The Colts\u2019 tight ends combined for only 39 receptions, 467 receiving yards, and two touchdowns in 2024. After failing to land Brock Bowers last year, maybe Ballard will do whatever it takes to get Warren in 2025.<\/p>\n

Ballard is well aware that his job is on the line. With that said, don\u2019t be surprised if he finally trades up in the first round of the draft this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While Colts general manager Chris Ballard has never traded up in the first round of the draft, things could be different this year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4890,"featured_media":224080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[32605,10068,1619,7810,33015],"class_list":["post-224021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colts","tag-2025-nfl-draft","tag-brock-bowers","tag-chris-ballard","tag-indianapolis-colts-draft","tag-tyler-warren"],"modified_by":"Josh Buckhalter","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4890"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224021"}],"version-history":[{"count":46,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":224081,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224021\/revisions\/224081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}