He doesn't give much insight as to what he will do next weekend at the NFL draft, but it's the biggest quote from him that I've read in months:
"History tells you every time it's your turn to pick, if you do the right thing, you can get a good player," Thompson said this week. "Certainly, at 16 in this year's draft, we feel the draft is strong enough that we should get a very good player. Whether that player becomes a quote-unquote impact player, I find that hard to judge. If I can get a good football player, I'm happy."
The 16th spot in this draft is an interesting place to be. It's possible no cornerbacks are drafted before 16, but there is likely to be a run on them at some point in the 1st round. It might be very easy to move down if some team eyeing a cornerback wants to make sure they get their guy. One thing Thompson is very good at is moving down in the 1st round:
"There's always the chance Thompson will make a trade in the first round, but his history almost precludes a trade up. In his seven previous years running drafts -- five with Seattle, two with the Packers -- he's made no trades up in any round. He's traded back in the first round three times. Two of those came in 2001, when he had two first-rounders. He moved from No. 7 overall to No. 9 overall for third- and seventh-round picks from San Francisco, and from 10th overall to No. 17 in a deal that included acquiring Packers quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. Then, in 2002 he moved from No. 20 to No. 28 overall for the Packers' second-round pick."
The 2001 trade with the Packers was a thing of beauty for Seattle. They traded two picks for a future Pro Bowl QB and then drafted future Pro Bowl OL Steve Hutchinson with the 17th pick. Unfortunately they blew it in 2002 by trading down. Mike Sherman selected future Pro Bowl WR Javon Walker with Seattle's pick, while Seattle selected currently unemployed problem child TE Jerramy Stevens with the Packers 1st round pick and then took major bust DE Anton Palepoi with the Packers 2nd round selection.
Maybe the lesson here is never trade away your 2nd round pick. Sherman traded the Packers 2nd round pick away twice! It was a miracle he wasn't run out of town years earlier! While Thompson's shrewd hording of 2nd round picks in Seattle helps him get Sherman's old job in Green Bay. I guess it doesn't matter that the two 2nd round picks became Walker and CB Al Harris, while Thompson got stuck with Palepol.