tonyl711 trying to be understood:
take the Vikings for example, they are looking for a QB right? well what if they only think Bridgewater is worth trading up for, what if they don't value anyone else enough to trade for? so unless you value at least 2 players enough to trade for, then you really cant make that trade until you know your guy will be there.
and im not saying that they wont have went over every possible scenario, im sure every team will. but how can you know which scenario will play out until that first pick is written in stone?
I'm pretty sure I understand you perfectly tony. I think it's my fault we're miscommunicating.
So I'll take your example of the Vikes.
Plan A: We will give the Rams X for the second pick if the Colts take Clowney.
Plan B: We will give the Rams Y (or nothing) for the second pick if the Colts take Bridgewater (or Manziel).
So you're correct that as of now they don't know who the Colts will pick. But they have a plan in place for both eventualities. So they call the Rams tomorrow and they say hey, if the Colts take Clowney (or Manziel) we'll give you X (not our X of course) and if they take Bridgewater we'll give you Y or we don't want your pick. So now the Rams know what they can get from the Vikes for the second pick no matter what happens. They're all set as far as knowing what the trade parameters will be if they go with the Vikes offer.
Of course no deals can be made until after the Colts make their decision AND the draft starts officially because any deal made now would be illegal. Although I'm not sure if illegal is the right word but in any case the NFL wouldn't accept it.
Now that's just one suiter that the Rams have a POTENTIAL deal with. The Jags call them and make them two offers that take into consideration all the possible choices the Colts might make with different offers depending on their choice.
So at this point, the Rams know what each team will offer for a trade up no matter who the Colts pick. The Jags and the Vikes know what they want to offer no matter who the Colts pick. All the groundwork is already done. Of course this isn't possible to do the farther down the draft you get because the possibilities of who is gone and who is left become way too large to compute.
Of course when the clock starts for the Rams and Snead calls the Vikes GM and tells them that the Jags offer trumps theirs they might change their minds and offer more.