Colts GM Ryan Grigson looking to wheel and deal in draft

Ryan Grigson, Indianapolis Colts General Manager, speaks to media members during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, February 21, 2013.(Photo: Robert Scheer / The Star)

The Indianapolis Colts don't possess a first round pick in next week's talent rich NFL draft. All told, they have a mere five selections to use on a class that many observers say has unprecedented depth.

So, if you're general manager Ryan Grigson, the question is this: How do you maximize this draft and its precious opportunities despite a lack of ideal circumstances?

Grigson's answer: Consider everything. That includes trades down not up to acquire additional picks that would allow the Colts to stockpile more talent.

"You'd love to," Grigson said on Thursday while previewing the draft. "But you also have to have willing (trade) partners. Our phone lines will be open. Hopefully they're ringing."

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The Colts aren't scheduled to pick until late in the second round, No. 59 overall (their first round pick was traded to the Browns last season for running back Trent Richardson). But depending on the way the first round plays out on Thursday, a number of tantalizing players could drop. The impact could continue to be felt throughout the first few rounds, giving the Colts much to think about.

"If there are guys that fall to cheap nfl jerseys us that you're kind of lukewarm on," Grigson said, "you'd love to trade back and acquire some more picks because I feel like we can then get those guys later."

There are a couple of positions that increase the likelihood that highly rated players could fall down the board. If there's a run on quarterbacks, for example, the Colts stand to benefit.

Ryan Grigson says he won rule out moving up or down in next weekend NFL draft, depending on how it plays out. The Colts have five picks starting in the second round.

Phillip B. Wilson / The Star

"I hope they take a ton of them," Grigson cracked. "I hope they take 30 of them. That'd be great. I hope the guys we have at the bottom of our board are going in (Rounds) 1 and 2. Let's hope that happens."

Grigson added, "If there's a player (we pick) and the whole room is kind of ho hum, like, 'Oh, well, wholesale nfl jerseys he fills a need,' that's not the type of environment we want to create. We want excitement when we turn that card in. We want guys high fiving, not doing limp handshakes."

The Colts, under noted dealmaker Grigson, will never rule out any maneuver. But trading up into the first round of this draft would be a tall order for Indianapolis. Doing so presumably would involve trading next year's first round choice and then some. And finding an interested party with which to trade will be challenging, at best.

"I'm keeping my options open," Grigson said. "I feel like if the opportunity presents itself and there is a player we absolutely feel we have to have, that we feel collectively as a group we really, really are pining for, then we'll try and do that if it's possible. At the same time, I have five picks."

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That's a clear admission the odds are stacked against cheap evening dresses online such a move.

Rather than invest much energy thinking about that possibility, Grigson and the Colts have been plotting aggressive moves after the draft. That's when they plan to attack a pool of undrafted free agents that the team envisions will include unusually high numbers of draft worthy players. The record 85 college underclassmen in this deep draft means some high quality players won't hear their names called and will be available on the free market after the draft's conclusion.

The Colts are planning accordingly, seeing it as another way to get the most out this draft despite their limited number of picks.

"The exciting thing is after the draft," Grigson said. "We're looking at different avenues of how we can be productive on draft day with just five picks. With the depth of this draft, I feel like that's an area to really target. So we're really streamlining that process, going to try and get those guys we really covet . and really go after those guys with guns blazing."Marvin Harrison, the Colts' career receiving leader, will announce the team's selection in the second round of the NFL Draft Friday in New York. In recent years the league has had a notable player represent his team in the second round of the draft.

Harrison, who retired after the 2008 season, owns club records with 1,102 receptions, 14,580 yards and 128 touchdowns. He was one of the 10 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2014, but did not make the final cut.