Around this time of year, NFL mock drafts can start to get a little stale. To inject some renewed intrigue, you see more potential trade scenarios pop up.

While a lot harder to accurately predict than a draft selection, exploring trade ideas can help us explore which positions teams should address and what value their picks may have.

Thus, what follows is a potential trade that would make sense for each franchise this week, taking into account factors like team needs, overall draft capital and rumors linking them to specific players.

These moves aren't necessarily all related or intended to happen in the same draft. While some teams are identified as mutual trade partners, others have multiple options for trades. And some players are the object of multiple teams' machinations.

Instead of reading this as a map to exactly what will happen on draft day, think of it more as one possibility for each team among many.

There are eight teams currently without a first-round pick in 2022: the Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers.

While some of those clubs do have the capital to move back into Round 1, for some teams, like the Super Bowl champion Rams—which don't select until the third round and have only one Day 2 pick—it was too far outside the realm of reality to predict anything but a trade down to amass more picks.

 

Arizona Cardinals: Trade Up for WR, CB or Pass-Rusher

The Arizona Cardinals seem to have a potential trade partner or two in mind for Thursday if they move up from the No. 23 selection.

In general manager Steve Keim's pre-draft press conference, he said that "there could be an option really to go up four or five spots and potentially get a guy that we think is a dynamic playmaker or a difference-maker," via Jess Root of Cards Wire. The three positions the team is focused on are receiver, cornerback and pass-rusher. 

Some of the players at those positions who had top-30 visits with Arizona (per Walter Football) and might be off the board before No. 23 are Alabama wideout Jameson Williams, Arkansas pass-catcher Treylon Burks and Florida State defensive end Jermaine Johnson II.

Burks met with the organization at the combine, too, making him someone the Cardinals could move up for if there's a run on receivers in the middle of Round 1. 

Keim also said in his press conference that there is "zero chance" of a trade including quarterback Kyler Murray (via NFL Network's Ian Rapoport). 

Arizona has eight selections in this draft, five of which come in Round 6 or later. Sure, the Cards could package Nos. 23 or 55 overall to get a couple more selections before Day 3, but if the team is committed to Murray, it should be trying to keep the window to contend open. A special player could go a long way toward doing that.

 

Atlanta Falcons: Trade for A.J. Brown

The Atlanta Falcons currently hold nine selections in this draft, including four in the top 75, and have plenty of needs.

Atlanta reportedly plans to be "very aggressive" drafting wideouts this week, as NFL Network's James Palmer reported, but bringing in a veteran via trade would provide an instant boost for a team that went 7-10 last season.

Atlanta could hope it can land Treylon Burks, the Arkansas wideout who welcomes comparisons to A.J. Brown, a player Falcons head coach Arthur Smith and new Falcons QB Marcus Mariota know well from their days in Tennessee.

But given the steep learning curve for rookie wideouts, the Falcons could also attempt to package some of their draft capital into an actual bid for Brown.

Titans general manager Jon Robinson has tried to shut down trade rumors around Brown, who is entering the final year of his rookie contract, saying he does not "foresee that happening," per Jim Wyatt of the team's website. But Brown is looking for a new deal and plans to sit out on-field work during Tennessee's offseason program, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Falcons multimedia features reporter Kris Rhim could see a deal wherein Atlanta sends picks No. 43 and 190 and a 2023 fourth-round pick to Tennessee for Brown. Given Atlanta's current cap situation, it would likely have to restructure some deals to give Brown the lucrative second contract he's looking for.