Wednesday, April 23, 2008

NFL Trades

1) Pac Man Jones to Dallas
- There are two perfect places for an NFL trouble maker like Pac Man Jones. Dallas and the Raiders. He ends up in Dallas and will practice opposite of TO.

2) Jared Allen to Minnesota for the 17th pick of the 1st round.
- Let me start by saying that Jared Allen is a high energy player with a lot of talent. He is a guy that nobody wanted on draft day out of the big northwest, but Dick Vermiel stood up for this guy ( and was right). You can't measure his heart with a bench press or a stop watch and Allen proved his doubters wrong. I remember I believe it was the Bengals and Vikings games last year where Allen just took over. I believe he had 3 sacks and a forced fumble vs Cincy and was a one man wrecking crew. I mean if you tried to quantify his value ( not just the sacks, but the pressure) you would find that a stud DE is invaluable.

Minnesota put the pieces together a couple of years ago. I would look at the team on paper and think to myself that they had the talent, but playing in that dome etc. must just make their job a whole lot harder ( why aren't they good?). Then a couple of years ago they just put it together with Tomlin.

Minny has the two horses at DT with the Williams boys, they have young talent at LB with Greenwood and Henderson, a stud top 5 corner, and a vet ball hawk patrolling center field. Their ends actually weren't that bad vs the run either but they NEED that pass rush. They just decided to take the proven spark plug with Allen rather than taking their chances in the draft. The Vikings had such a need at DE I can't think of a team that clearly needed a DE more than them. Kudos to management for addressing that important and dire need.

3) Chad Johnson NOT to Washington for a 1st and 3rd rounder.
- I view the Chad Johnson situation to Kobe Bryant last year. What the heck are you angry about? Kobe wanted his own team ( minus shaq) and he got it. What more do you want?

Chad Johnson has the best young ( although young is relative) quarterback with Carson Palmer. CJ has a good offensive line, a pro bowl caliber WR opposite of him, and a team that has been together. The Bengals have one of the best offenses in the league, but Chad wants out? Cry me a river.

QB- Palmer already in top 5, maybe the best young QB after Manning/Brady
WR- Hoosh is probably the best second best receiver on any team and a top guy for most teams and draws coverages making CJ's life easier.
O-Line- The Bengals have had one of the better offensive lines of the past few years.
RB- Fungible, but if Rudy is healthy they are fine. If unhealthy they can bring in other talent.

The bottom line is that CJ just wants that attention/Drama that he is known for. The Bengals probably don't want to trade him because they just want it to work. If you look at the SYNERGY of that offense it is powerful. On offense you want to keep the same players together to develop that bond. Often times you can see an offense that might have had mixed results improve without adding new talent because of that synergy factor. The Bengals have had these guys together for years and can do things that other teams can't. I could go much more into detail about the passing game but just take my word for it. The Bengals just want it to gloss over like Kobe in an unhappy LA last summer. Marvin Lewis is seriously ruining a very good offense with TERRIBLE defense. If Marvin Lewis was named " Brad Childress" he would have been fired a long time ago for the piss poor performance of his specialty.

In the other corner I have the Washington DEADSKINS. I understand that you need a receiver that isn't a certified midget ( Santana Moss/Randel El) and you might THINK that CJ is worth a 1st and 3rd from a talent perspective...

Draft picks aren't just good because you get a player into YOUR system and get to use him for a whole career ( or until you drop/trade him). Draft picks are good because you get hungry young talent for a CHEAP price. I understand this is over simplified because guys at the top of the draft get paid huge signing bonuses and are unproven but the Redskins 1st and 3rd round picks don't fall into this example. It isn't so much CJ's age or talent that bother me, it is the fact that the Redskins will have to shell out a HELL OF A LOT OF MONEY and they are about the least fiscally responsible team out there. Then they wonder why they couldn't keep Antoinio Pierce, Ryan Clark, Derick Dockery, Robert Royal etc. etc. etc. It is because they were out overpaying the Adam Archuletas of the world. I see that sometimes a leopard never losses its stripes.





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