{"id":870419,"date":"2026-04-20T03:21:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T03:21:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/870419\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T03:21:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T03:21:42","slug":"commanders-nfl-draft-rumors-detail-trade-plan-top-round-1-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/870419\/","title":{"rendered":"Commanders NFL Draft rumors detail trade plan, top Round 1 target"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Washington Commanders<\/a> are rumored to be looking to make a trade in Round 1 of the 2026 NFL<\/a> Draft.<\/p>\n

And, the Commanders reportedly have a specific prospect in mind if they accomplish their trade goal.<\/p>\n

According to Charlie Campbell of Walter Football, Washington \u201cbadly wants to trade down\u201d<\/a> from the No. 7 overall pick.<\/p>\n

MORE: Eagles must offer draft pick for Steelers trade candidate<\/a><\/p>\n

When it comes to the Commanders\u2019 top target after a trade down, it\u2019s LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeaking with some league sources today, Washington badly wants to trade down from the 7th overall pick,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cThe Commanders are without a second-round pick. If they can trade down, a top target for Washington is LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane.\u201d<\/p>\n

As things stand now, Washington has a huge gap from its first-round selection<\/a>, as the team doesn\u2019t pick again until Round 3. The Commanders are also without a fourth-round pick.<\/p>\n

The Commanders don\u2019t have their second and fourth-round picks because of the trade for left tackle Laremy Tunsil<\/a> with the Houston Texans.<\/p>\n

Why Commanders need a cornerback<\/p>\n

\"\"Dec 14, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn looks on during warms up prior to the game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Commanders are coming off a season in which they sported one of the worst defenses in the NFL<\/a> despite having a defensive guru as a head coach in Dan Quinn.<\/p>\n

Contributing to that putrid showing was a pass defense that was the fifth-worst.<\/p>\n

Washington cut Marshon Lattimore earlier this offseason<\/a> and is lacking a sure starting option opposite Trey Amos, who is also recovering from a fractured fibula<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mansoor Delane is just what the doctor ordered<\/p>\n

\"\"2026 NFL Draft prospect and LSU Tigers cornerback Mansoor Delane (4) celebrates with safety Tamarcus Cooley (0). Ken Ruinard-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Delane is widely viewed as a lockdown cornerback and the best in the 2026 NFL Draft class<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The LSU product was nothing short of elite last season after posting the fourth-best Pro Football Focus coverage grade<\/a> in the nation with a 90.7.<\/p>\n

Delane also posted an absurd 31.3 passer rating when targeted.<\/p>\n

The Commanders are looking to rebound after a down year and need an immediate impact player in the secondary. Delane is a good bet to be that.<\/p>\n

A tall order for Washington<\/p>\n

With this being a weak draft class<\/a>, the expectation is that there won\u2019t be many teams looking to trade up.<\/p>\n

Adding to that, Washington can\u2019t trade back that far if it wants Delane, as he\u2019s probably a top-10 pick. The cornerback-needy Kansas City Chiefs are a team to watch at No. 9.<\/p>\n

Knowing that, the Commanders are almost certainly not going to be able to have their cake and eat it too, meaning they can\u2019t trade back and get both a second-round pick and Delane. <\/p>\n

MORE: NFL draft prospect Zachariah Branch arrested after attending Georgia spring game<\/a><\/p>\n

Based on the NFL Draft Trade Value Chart<\/a>, the best-case scenario is a small trade back that still allows Washington to nab Delane and get a third-round pick.<\/p>\n

That might not net the second-round pick Washington wants, but an extra third is better than having just one Day 2 pick, especially if that pick comes with the player the team wants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Washington Commanders are rumored to be looking to make a trade in Round 1 of the 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":870420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2069],"tags":[4955,427,7,14346,6,15,855,111,2480],"class_list":{"0":"post-870419","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-commanders","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-commanders","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-mansoor-delane","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-nfl-draft","14":"tag-washington","15":"tag-washington-commanders","16":"tag-washingtoncommanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116434887429953205","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}