The 2012 NFL Draft is just a day away at the time of writing this, and if you believe the various mock drafts around the league, there's a very good chance that the Cleveland Browns are going to replace running back Peyton Hillis with Trent Richardson out of Alabama. There's been plenty of mocks with Richardson to Cleveland, and the pick could be considered the majority opinion at this point.
Many are of the opinion that if the Browns don't draft Richardson, he could fall out of the top ten given the general lack of need for a running back around the league (most teams are happy with their situation). But there could be another suitor if they don't, and, really, potentially if they plan to, providing the Minnesota Vikings are willing to deal at No. 3. It was revealed that the New York Jets have Richardson as the top player on their board.
On top of that, Richardson himself said that the Jets met with him to confirm his contact information just in case they move up to draft him:
"They wanted to know my information as far as whether it's the right number to reach me in case something does happen, with them trading up," Richardson revealed.
Richardson would follow-up by saying he'd love to play for the Jets, according to ESPN. It's certainly an interesting situation, really. Could the Jets be interested in trading with the Vikings to get in front of the Browns? Or could they be interested with trading up to deal with the Browns to get in front of some other team?
One would think the Jets were referring to a scenario in which Richardson makes it past the Browns, prompting them to trade up from No. 16. It seems pretty drastic to think they'd go into the top five from that position, but not totally unlikely at this point. It adds an interesting dynamic, at the very least.
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