In general, if you are going to trade down 1 or 2 spots does the team moving up generally reveal their pick before making such a deal or is there some "gentleman's" agreement to have that not occur?
Probably sometimes, but in most cases - no. For instance, let's say SF at #6 really had the hots for D Brick. The Jets are on the clock and the 49ers call the Jets and offer a second round pick to trade up two spots. The 49ers know the Jets OL is a weak spot and they may very well take D Brick. Meanwhile, the Jets have the ball in their court at this point. If they really want D Brick, they turn them down, if they want Cutler they go ahead and make the trade assuming the 49ers and GB at #5 don't want Cutler - they both drafted QB's in the first round last year. In this case it works out for both teams, the 49ers get D Brick who they really wanted and the Jets select Cutler - one of the players they wanted anyway and get an extra second round pick to boot. I think the trick is to not tell the team who wants to trade what your intentions are..... but also remember that any lies or deliberate misintentions would kind of blackball you around the league regarding trades....
