ALLEN PARK -- Detroit has been open about its interest in trading out of the third overall pick in the NFL draft, and the Miami Dolphins were always one of the most obvious candidates to make it happen.

They need a quarterback (like Tua Tagovailoa or maybe Justin Herbert). They own the fifth overall pick. And they have extra first-round picks to spare, sitting on three overall.

But what if they want to make a trade with Detroit -- and keep the fifth overall pick?

Because that’s exactly what the Miami Herald is reporting the Dolphins want to do, and they’ve already spoken with Detroit about what such a deal might look like.

Going by the draft value chart available at ProFootballReference (which is just a guide and not what Detroit actually uses), the third pick is worth 2,200 points and the fifth is worth 1,700. That means the Dolphins could give Detroit both of their remaining first-round picks -- the 18th (worth 900 points) and the 26th (700 points) -- and that haul still wouldn’t come close to completing the deal.

And that’s just based on the chart.

The Lions are interested in moving down, but they also aren’t interested in moving down so far as to miss out on a premium talent like Ohio State cornerback Jeff Okudah, Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown or Clemson do-everything Isaiah Simmons. To move off the third overall pick -- and out of the top 17 entirely -- would require Miami to sweeten the deal way beyond equitable.

According to Bob Quinn himself, it might have to be double.

“When you’re talking about value and you’re talking about tiers in the draft, if you drop from your Tier 1 to your Tier 2, then you’re getting a different level player,” the Lions general manager said last week. “So the draft-value chart might get thrown out the window because if you’re going to do that, you better get a huge return. You better win that trade on the value chart -- double.”

Quinn has been talking to teams about moving down since the combine. He said the Lions had more talks last week, and he expected those talks to grow more seriously this week. He expects to know by about Thursday afternoon whether he’ll have an offer he likes to move down or not.

Those pre-draft talks are not unusual, although the coronavirus pandemic -- which has forced Quinn and the rest of his staff to conduct the draft in isolation, along with every other team in the league -- has heightened the GM’s desire to have the groundwork laid before Detroit is actually on the clock.

“I think just the world we’re living in, with this being virtual, I think a lot of those things, if I’m going to do something, we’re probably going to have a pretty good idea Thursday afternoon of where we stand,” Quinn said. “I don’t think I’m going to be making a huge decision on trading the No. 3 overall pick while I’m on the clock while virtually talking to our head coach and our other personnel.”