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After 'dancing with the devil,' Ted Thompson gets his man in Jason Spriggs

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Ted Thompson has rarely traded up during his 12-draft tenure as Green Bay Packers general manager, but he absolutely did not want to lose out on Indiana offensive tackle Jason Spriggs.

So instead of staying put and hoping that Spriggs would make it to the Packers’ second-round pick (No. 57 overall), Thompson sent the Indianapolis Colts his fourth-round (No. 125) and seventh-round (No. 248) picks to move up nine spots and take Spriggs at No. 48.

“We were sweating it, looking at the board, and it just didn’t look like the board was going to hold up all the way [to No. 57],” Thompson explained after Day 2 of the draft ended Friday night. “It might have been a little bit conservative on my part, but I felt like I’d rather have him than risk losing him.

“We really wanted to make him a Packer right about there. We felt like we were dancing with the devil if we waited too much longer.”

As a result, Spriggs became just the eighth player Thompson has traded up to select, compared to the 21 draft-day trades the veteran GM has made to acquire additional picks over the years.

The other players Thompson has traded up for: Wake Forest defensive lineman Jeremy Thompson (2008), USC outside linebacker Clay Matthews (2009), Georgia Tech safety Morgan Burnett (2010), Michigan State defensive lineman Jerel Worthy (2012), Vanderbilt cornerback Casey Hayward (2012), North Carolina State linebacker Terrell Manning (2012), UCLA running back Johnathan Franklin (2013) and UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley (2015).

(The three upward 2012 trades were so out of character that Thompson joked afterward, “I’m not my father’s son anymore” and that the deals made him “pathetic.”)

Thompson wouldn’t say whether he made the move on Spriggs to get in front of the Chicago Bears, but circumstantial evidence would indicate he did.

The Bears, in need of offensive line help, were picking 49th, and when the Packers moved ahead of them -- resulting in an anti-Packers chant from the Bears fans inside the Auditorium Theater of Roosevelt University in Chicago -- the Bears traded out of that pick, acquiring Seattle’s fourth-round pick to move back seven spots. When the Bears picked at No. 56, they chose Kansas State offensive guard Cody Whitehair.

Thompson was coy when asked if he was worried about his team's NFC North rivals taking Spriggs -- “I was worrying about all things at all times,” he replied with a smirk -- while director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst would only say that the Packers felt they “wouldn’t be able to get [Spriggs] if we sat still.”

Because of the trade, the Packers have only four picks entering the final day of the draft: Their two compensatory fourth-round picks, which cannot be traded, and their existing fifth- and sixth-round picks. If Thompson doesn’t trade back Saturday to acquire additional picks, the 2016 class will consist of seven players, tied with the 2010 class for the fewest of Thompson’s tenure.

PACKERS’ REMAINING PICKS

Fourth round: No. 131*, No. 137*.

Fifth round: No. 163.

Sixth round: No. 200.

* -- Compensatory pick, cannot be traded