I labelled the Bears trade for Jay Cutler the worst trade in NFL history. NHot because cutler wasn't a good QB, but because the heavy price paid meant the Bears would be unable to fill the gaping holes in their roster. I will admit the trade has worked out somewhat better than I expected, but my original assessment seems accurate as well. the Bears have been hamstrung since the trade by a lack of talent at key positions, the sort of talent you get cheaply withhigh draft picks.
Now a trade has occurred that makes the Bears trade look positively small time. For those who have been on extended vacation to Bali, the Redskins, a team with a hard-earned reputation for dumb deals, traded three first round draft picks and a second to St. Louis to move up from the number 6 slot to number two, where they can presumably draft the Heisman Trophy winner, Robert Griffin III.
They gave up their first round picks for this year and the next two years, in addition to this year's second, a truly staggering price that is apparently unrivaled in league history. The only remotely comparable deals were the Bears trade for Ccutler, Atlanta's ill-fated trade for Jeff George and Mike Dikta's monumentally stupid trade of all his draft picks (to the Redskins ironically) for the dubious privilege of drafting Ricky Williams.
Skins GM Bruce Allen justified the move by saying the team was "in love" with two players, presumably RG III and Andrew Luck. To put that assessment in perspective, let's consider the team's recent history of QB assessments. Three eyars ago, they were deeply infatuated with Mark Sanchez, but couldn't swing a deal to move up for him. Sanchez has been ok but hardly a franchise Qb for the Jets, a far better team than the hapless Skins. Then the brain trust of Mike and Kyle shanahan and Allen thought a really smart move would be to trade some high picks for Donovan McNabb, whom the Eagles were desperate to unload to make room for since departed Kevin Kolb. The media circus that accompanied the McNabb arrival rivaled that given to Barrack obama. Thirteen games later, McNabb had been unceremoniously benched in favor of human turnover machine Rex Grossman. The Shanahans graciously trashed the classy McNabb anonymously in the media. Apparently he had been insufficiently obsequious to his 32 year old ofensive coordinator, Kyle.
Not to worry, before last season Shanahan announced that John Beck, a career clipboard holder, had impressed him as the guy who could make it happen for his offense. And they had the proven vet Grossman. Beck started three games and was beyond terrible. Grossman played as he has his entire career, inconsistenly.
With Shanahan's Hall of Fame credentials possibly being tarnished, the dark cloud of panic hung over Redskins Park like summer smog in DC. A frantic wooing of Peyton Manning went no where. Seriously, what a surprise. So the team bent over and handed St. Louis a supersized jar of vaseline.
The locla media has been diligent in trying to justify the deal. After all, as they keep reminding us, no price is too great to pay for a franchise QB. What they don't say is successful teams are not in the habit of paying "any price" for their QBs. Bill Belichick, nobody's fool, got Tom Brady for a sixth round pick. Andy Reid, anothe shrewd dealmaker, got Mike Vick, the closest analogy to RG III, on the cheap when he came out of prison.
But the Giants paid up to get Eli Manning. Yes, and for several years it looked like a bad deal. They have won two Super Bowls behind Manning, but the Giants are one of the best at assembling a roster. They surrounded Manning with dominating offensive and defensive lines and elite playmakers. The Redskins? They will have to rely on free agency to patch some of the gaping holes in their roster. That has been a recipe for disappointment if not disaster for them in the past. Does Albert Haynesworth ring a bell?
The sad thing is that the new regime of Shanahan and Allen was supposed to mark a total break form the immediate gratification, throw money at free agents approach to roster building. Ffor two years, it looked vaguely promising, McNabb notwithstanding. Now this.
Maybe it will all work out. After all, RG III is the second best Qb in the draft, supposedly. But asessing college QBs is notoriously difficult. He is not as universally praised as DeMarcus Russell for example. The list of failed can't miss prospects is a long and familiar one. Ryan Leaf, Tim Couch, Akili Smith, Russell, et al. The statistics say it is a 50% proposition. For two number ones, maybe I take that trade. Not for three plus a second. That means you have given up four potential starters, more if you leverage the picks by trading down.
The one thing the Redskins have going for them is the surprising fact that they have an enormous amount of salary cap room, some $40 mill. They can go out and get an impact WR, one or two offensive linemen, maybe a RB and a corner. Unfortunately, they need all that and more. And by the time a rookie QB gets his feet under him, those FAs will be either long in the tooth or gone.
Now a trade has occurred that makes the Bears trade look positively small time. For those who have been on extended vacation to Bali, the Redskins, a team with a hard-earned reputation for dumb deals, traded three first round draft picks and a second to St. Louis to move up from the number 6 slot to number two, where they can presumably draft the Heisman Trophy winner, Robert Griffin III.
They gave up their first round picks for this year and the next two years, in addition to this year's second, a truly staggering price that is apparently unrivaled in league history. The only remotely comparable deals were the Bears trade for Ccutler, Atlanta's ill-fated trade for Jeff George and Mike Dikta's monumentally stupid trade of all his draft picks (to the Redskins ironically) for the dubious privilege of drafting Ricky Williams.
Skins GM Bruce Allen justified the move by saying the team was "in love" with two players, presumably RG III and Andrew Luck. To put that assessment in perspective, let's consider the team's recent history of QB assessments. Three eyars ago, they were deeply infatuated with Mark Sanchez, but couldn't swing a deal to move up for him. Sanchez has been ok but hardly a franchise Qb for the Jets, a far better team than the hapless Skins. Then the brain trust of Mike and Kyle shanahan and Allen thought a really smart move would be to trade some high picks for Donovan McNabb, whom the Eagles were desperate to unload to make room for since departed Kevin Kolb. The media circus that accompanied the McNabb arrival rivaled that given to Barrack obama. Thirteen games later, McNabb had been unceremoniously benched in favor of human turnover machine Rex Grossman. The Shanahans graciously trashed the classy McNabb anonymously in the media. Apparently he had been insufficiently obsequious to his 32 year old ofensive coordinator, Kyle.
Not to worry, before last season Shanahan announced that John Beck, a career clipboard holder, had impressed him as the guy who could make it happen for his offense. And they had the proven vet Grossman. Beck started three games and was beyond terrible. Grossman played as he has his entire career, inconsistenly.
With Shanahan's Hall of Fame credentials possibly being tarnished, the dark cloud of panic hung over Redskins Park like summer smog in DC. A frantic wooing of Peyton Manning went no where. Seriously, what a surprise. So the team bent over and handed St. Louis a supersized jar of vaseline.
The locla media has been diligent in trying to justify the deal. After all, as they keep reminding us, no price is too great to pay for a franchise QB. What they don't say is successful teams are not in the habit of paying "any price" for their QBs. Bill Belichick, nobody's fool, got Tom Brady for a sixth round pick. Andy Reid, anothe shrewd dealmaker, got Mike Vick, the closest analogy to RG III, on the cheap when he came out of prison.
But the Giants paid up to get Eli Manning. Yes, and for several years it looked like a bad deal. They have won two Super Bowls behind Manning, but the Giants are one of the best at assembling a roster. They surrounded Manning with dominating offensive and defensive lines and elite playmakers. The Redskins? They will have to rely on free agency to patch some of the gaping holes in their roster. That has been a recipe for disappointment if not disaster for them in the past. Does Albert Haynesworth ring a bell?
The sad thing is that the new regime of Shanahan and Allen was supposed to mark a total break form the immediate gratification, throw money at free agents approach to roster building. Ffor two years, it looked vaguely promising, McNabb notwithstanding. Now this.
Maybe it will all work out. After all, RG III is the second best Qb in the draft, supposedly. But asessing college QBs is notoriously difficult. He is not as universally praised as DeMarcus Russell for example. The list of failed can't miss prospects is a long and familiar one. Ryan Leaf, Tim Couch, Akili Smith, Russell, et al. The statistics say it is a 50% proposition. For two number ones, maybe I take that trade. Not for three plus a second. That means you have given up four potential starters, more if you leverage the picks by trading down.
The one thing the Redskins have going for them is the surprising fact that they have an enormous amount of salary cap room, some $40 mill. They can go out and get an impact WR, one or two offensive linemen, maybe a RB and a corner. Unfortunately, they need all that and more. And by the time a rookie QB gets his feet under him, those FAs will be either long in the tooth or gone.
