Perfect (sense) 10: Moves that should happen on draft weekend

Kevin Boss filled in admirably for the injured Jeremy Shockey last season, giving the Giants flexibility at the tight end position. John Iacono/SI NFL Draft 2008 Tuesday, April 29 Andrew Perloff: Early look at 2009 draft Tony Pauline: Top prospects for 2009 Peter King: Monday Morning QB Mailbag Monday, April 28 Peter King: Monday Morning Quarterback Dr. Z: Non-grading every team's draft Richard Deitsch: How did the media do? Sunday, April 27 Don Banks: How the class of QBs stack up Michael Lombardi: Lessons from the draft Tony Pauline: Top 10 steals and reaches Draft Tracker: Review all 252 selections Saturday, April 26 Don Banks: Need, speed dominate first day Bucky Brooks: Pick-by-pick breakdowns SI.com At The Draft Blog: Fourteen writers in 11 cities bring you behind the scenes Photo Galleries SI's best pictures from the NFL draft Top six picks take in Big Apple sights Darren McFadden | Glenn Dorsey Matt Ryan | Rashard Mendenhall Vernon Gholston | Jake Long Derrick Harvey | Keith Rivers

As the draft-week intrigue starts to build and our final mock draft looms (version 7.0 hits the site Friday), predictions of what's about to unfold are everywhere. But as I survey the NFL landscape in late April, here are 10 moves I think make too much sense not to make. I'm not saying these all will happen, but I think they should:

1. The Giants trade Jeremy Shockey to the Saints: New York can spin it any way it likes, but the reality is the Giants got a glimpse of life without Shockey from mid-December on, and it wasn't so bad. In fact, it was better.

Eli Manning was undeniably at his best and the Giants offense was more balanced and varied without the constraints of having to ensure Shockey was happy with his level of involvement. In addition, rookie tight end Kevin Boss showed legitimate promise in the postseason.

Shockey has never fully bought into head coach Tom Coughlin's program, and he promises to be even more of a potential problem now that he has let it be known he doesn't care for his blocking assignments and has grown bothered by the perception that the Giants won it all in part because he missed everything after Week 15 due to injury. Super Bowl success has freed New York to do the right thing for its locker room, and that spells moving an unhappy player while he still has significant value.

New York is never going to get New Orleans to give up both its second-round pick (No. 40 overall) and starting safety Roman Harper (a second-round pick in '06), who has been the best player in the Saints' sometimes shaky secondary. New York should settle for the second-rounder, plus a fifth, and then use its picks at No. 31 and 40 to take the best available safety and outside linebacker, filling its two most obvious needs. The Giants might come away with a safety prospect like Miami's Kenny Phillips or Arkansas State's Tyrell Johnson with one of those picks, and maybe a linebacker such as Penn State's Dan Connor or Oklahoma's Curtis Lofton with the other.

At No. 40, New York could also choose to replace Shockey with a younger, healthier, cheaper version in Purdue tight end Dustin Keller, and wait until its No. 63 second-round pick to select its linebacker in Xavier Adibi of Virginia Tech. As for Shockey, he'd be a big upgrade for the Saints tight end position, where he'd play a major role in an offense he's familiar with. Saints head coach Sean Payton was his offensive coordinator with the Giants in his rookie season of 2002, when Shockey caught a career-best 74 passes for 894 yards.

2. The Eagles trade Lito Sheppard to move up in the first round: The minute Asante Samuel signed with Philadelphia it became a fait accompli that Sheppard would be dealt. It's rare that a 27-year-old cornerback with a pair of Pro Bowl selections on his résumé reaches the market, but Sheppard's recent injury history and his contract dissatisfaction make him expendable.

With Sheppard not even taking part in Philly's offseason program, the Eagles don't have a ton of leverage in any potential deal. Everybody knows he's a goner, so Philadelphia can't exact maximum value. What the Eagles should be content to do is use Sheppard as the ammo they need to move up in the first round from their current No. 19 slot. The two obvious teams above Philly that need a cornerback are No. 8 Baltimore and No. 10 New Orleans.

The Ravens wouldn't go anywhere if Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan was still available at No. 8, but as the draft looms it's looking less likely that he'll get past the trio of the No. 3 Falcons, No. 5 Chiefs and No. 6 Jets. If the Eagles could get Baltimore interested in moving down to No. 19 in exchange for Sheppard, they should jump on it, because it might put them into position to take USC defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis.

Same for No. 10 New Orleans. At No. 10, the Eagles could pick the draft's top-rated receiver, Devin Thomas of Michigan State, just ahead of the No. 11 Bills, who covet him. Another potential target at No. 10 would be Virginia guard-tackle Branden Albert, who is rated the draft's second-best tackle prospect by some teams. Turning Sheppard, a former 2002 first-round pick, into one of those three players -- Ellis, Thomas or Albert -- would be transforming the Eagles' biggest negative this offseason into a positive.

3. The Raiders bypass Darren McFadden: He might be the most talented and gifted player in this year's draft, but McFadden isn't the missing piece that will turn Oakland into a winner after five desultory seasons of losing. The Raiders still have many needs, but running back simply isn't one of them. Somehow, some way, they should be able to piece together a ground game from the likes of Michael Bush, Justin Fargas, Dominic Rhodes and LaMont Jordan. Adding McFadden would be counterproductive and leave some need unfilled.

The Raiders need defensive linemen and they're well-positioned in this year's draft to address that issue. At No. 4, they're 99.9 percent certain of getting one of the following: Ohio State defensive end/linebacker Vernon Gholston, LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey or Virginia defensive end Chris Long. If none of those possibilities seem attractive enough, Oakland should still spurn McFadden and shop the pick to a team that needs a running back (No. 14 Bears, No. 15 Lions, No. 16 Cardinals), or a team that wants to move up and take one of those three defensive linemen. With as many holes as the Raiders have, multiple picks in the opening three rounds is the way to go.