Evan Siegle/Associated Press

It's a line of thought that has been gaining steam in recent weeks: General manager Ted Thompson and the Green Bay Packers can find the best value in the draft by trading out of the first round.

With the right trade partner, it could be a strategic move for Green Bay that allows the team to address its two biggest needs at the right spots on the board in Round 2—and gain an extra pick to boot.

As the draft approaches, the truly exceptional prospects have solidified themselves near the front of the class, while many players have fallen into a Round 1/Round 2 bubble.

Players such as Florida State cornerback P.J. Williams, UCLA inside linebacker Eric Kendricks and Oklahoma defensive tackle Jordan Phillips could all be fits for Green Bay's needs, but are they truly first-round prospects?

Or does the fact that there must be 32 selections in Round 1 mean that there will be many players taken who weren't worth that kind of investment?



There are a few instances where Thompson could be tempted to stay in Round 1.

Packers' Potential 1st-Round Targets Player Position School Position Ranking Kevin Johnson CB Wake Forest 2 Marcus Peters CB Ex-Washington 3 Eddie Goldman DT Florida State 5 Eric Kendricks ILB UCLA 1 P.J. Williams CB Florida State 4 Jordan Phillips DT Oklahoma 6 Source: CBSSports.com

If Florida State defensive tackle Eddie Goldman is available at 30th overall, it would be a value pick. While NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky reported that defensive tackles B.J. Raji and Letroy Guion re-signed with the Packers on Monday, both are on one-year deals.

It's the right time to draft a developmental prospect and groom him to be the eventual starter at nose tackle...but is Round 1 the right time to do that?

Kendricks' stock has been rising all offseason, and he's finally claimed the No. 1 spot in the inside linebacker class.

It's well-deserved. Kendricks is possibly the most complete inside linebacker prospect in the draft, and certainly more so than Benardrick McKinney and Denzel Perryman, both of whom he was ranked behind not too long ago.

But this is a weak inside linebacker class overall, and though need may cause one or two of its members to be drafted in Round 1, that doesn't mean that they would be graded as Round 1 prospects in any other year.

Will Thompson take Kendricks a little higher than he probably has him on his draft board, knowing that the UCLA prospect satisfies the team's greatest need and an opening next to Sam Barrington?

Perhaps it makes more sense for Thompson to package the 30th pick into a trade, move into the top of the second and walk away from that round with two starting-caliber players at inside linebacker and cornerback at much better value.

Packers' Potential 2nd-Round Targets (with Trade out of 1st) Player Position School Position Ranking Maxx Williams TE Minnesota 1 Quinten Rollins CB Miami (OH) 5 Benardrick McKinney ILB Mississippi State 2 Stephone Anthony ILB Clemson 3 Carl Davis DT Iowa 7 Jalen Collins CB LSU 6 Byron Jones CB Connecticut 7 Paul Dawson ILB TCU 4 Source: CBSSports.com

If the Packers can move to within the first 10 or 15 picks of Round 2, they'll have a good chance of landing Clemson inside linebacker Stephone Anthony. Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net reported that the Packers are "very high" on Anthony and he is a "favorite of [defensive coordinator] Dom Capers."

Like Kendricks, Anthony is more complete than his peers at the position, able to get downhill to make a play on the ball and cover sideline-to-sideline. He also has better size (6'3", 243 lbs) than Kendricks or Perryman.

With their own pick at No. 62, Green Bay could then address the cornerback position with Connecticut's Byron Jones.

Evan Siegle/Associated Press

Thompson has never drafted a cornerback in Round 1, and while he may have a hard time passing up a prospect like Wake Forest's Kevin Johnson if he were to fall to No. 30, the position is one of the hardest to develop at the NFL level.

It's smarter to use a second-round pick on a player who can still compete with Casey Hayward for the starting outside job, and Jones can do that.

He was a playmaker for the Huskies, leading the team in interceptions in 2013, and displayed his elite athleticism at the combine, where he was a top performer in every category.

If the Packers keep their pick in Round 1, they'd have a chance to get a top inside linebacker or cornerback prospect—but not both. In this trade scenario, they have the opportunity to select two starting-caliber players to make an instant impact in 2015.

Any trade scenario is incomplete, however, without looking at it from the other side: Which teams would be willing partners?

One possibility is the New York Jets. After all, it's happened once before.

It will be hard for New York to pass on quarterback Marcus Mariota with its sixth overall pick, but it has more pressing needs than quarterback. If the Jets were to move up to No. 30, they could take a pass-rusher—perhaps Virginia product Eli Harold.

Green Bay, in turn, would move to New York's spot at No. 37 and select Anthony. Based loosely on the Draft Countdown trade value chart, which assigns numerical values to each draft choice, the Packers would also likely receive New York's fourth-round pick (No. 104).

The San Francisco 49ers, with the 46th overall selection in Round 2, also seem like potential candidates to move back into Round 1.

Their first pick at 15th overall is too high to select any of the inside linebacker prospects unless they reach, but they desperately need an impact player there. Moving up to No. 30 would allow them to target Kendricks, McKinney or Perryman, all of whom could be gone by No. 46.

The Packers, however, could likely still grab Anthony at 46th overall.

If Thompson does decide to offer up the 30th overall pick, he shouldn't be at a loss for interested parties. Moreover, with the way the offseason has taken shape after the combine and pro days, it might be the best move for the franchise.

Unless otherwise noted, draft rankings courtesy of CBSSports.com.