The Ravens made a significant move Tuesday by dealing starting defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan to the Philadelphia Eagles to move up 25 spots in the third round of the draft.
General Manager Ozzie Newsome elaborated on the trade during Wednesday's pre-draft press conference, saying that moving up to early in the third round will give the Ravens more options with how they spend their mid-round capital.
"We think it's prime real estate when you're picking in the top-10 picks in a round because the phone normally rings [with a trade possibility]," Newsome said. "And you have a chance to pick up the player that you really want, or you probably could trade back and acquire more picks, if you so choose."
The Ravens could ultimately end up dealing that No. 74 pick to get additional picks in later rounds. But the higher third-round pick also gives Newsome more ammunition if he chooses to go the other direction and trade up in the first or second round.
Parting ways with Jernigan is a significant price to pay, but Newsome explained that the front office did its homework to determine his worth on the trade market.
"Based on the research that we did and the knowledge that we had, we got the value of what we thought Timmy was worth," Newsome said.
Jernigan, 24, was heading into the final season of his rookie contract. He started 15 games for the Ravens last season and had the second-most sacks on the defense (five).
The Ravens likely weren't going to re-sign Jernigan after the 2017 season because they already made a huge financial commitment to nose tackle Brandon Williams, so trading him allowed Baltimore to receive an immediate return rather than waiting for a compensatory pick in the 2019 draft.
