Craig's List Trade - NFL Style

The Dallas Cowboys and St. Louis Rams have completed a trade by swapping linebacker Bobby Carpenter for Alex Barron.  That in itself is not big news.

The bigger story is the fact that these guys couldn't have been traded for anybody but themselves. Having the conversation: "I'll trade you Bobby Carpenter for Alex Barron" is like saying "I'll trade you my broken leaf blower for your Atari 5200 that has no controllers." Just remember that these guys are "as is".

Barron is an awesome athlete that struggles with in-game adjustments and sometimes plays down to his competition. Carpenter has 3 starts in four seasons and has basically been a special teams player. He has acquired the nickname "Barbie" from his teammates because of his lack of physical play and because of his long flowing blonde mane. This was documented in HBO's 2008's Hard Knocks and is an interesting watch if you have the time.

The fact of the matter is that both players will be free agents after this season and both seem to fit a need for their new teams. Tackles as athletic as Barron are hard to find, and Carpenter is much better suited for a 4-3 defense. 

Having the free agency eligibility moved from four years to six years in the League has allowed for much more trading this off season. Though this trade doesn't look like a big deal, the fact that so many trades have transpired is keeping things interesting. These trades have replaced traditional free agency in a sense, and teams can get a draft pick in return for a player they would have released or let go in free agency in a standard capped year.  It's definitely keeping me busy.






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Lions Pony Up

Earlier today the Lions completed a three team trade that sent Detroit linebacker Ernie Sims to Philadelphia and Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler to the Lions.

The Lions continue their offseason frenzy by upgrading the tight end position. When current starting tight end Brandon Pettigrew returns from injury, Detroit will feature an excellent pass-catching, two tight end set.

Lions GM, Martin Mayhew, has made a major overhaul of the Lions roster since he took over for former GM Matt Millen during the 2009 offseason. By trading Sims, only three of Millen's former first round picks remain with the team.

Philadelphia is expecting to get a starter in exchange for the fifth round pick that they sent to the Broncos. If Sims can return to his 2006-2007 form, the Eagles got a bargain. Sims' violent style of play and lack of prototypical size have cost him playing time due to injury the last two seasons.

The Broncos have washed their hands clean of the perceived malcontents left over from the Shanahan era. The team has been able to acquire draft picks in exchange for the loss of experienced talent (Cutler, Marshall, Scheffler) and now needs to transfer those picks into talented football players. Broncos' Head Coach, Josh McDaniels, will have the control he desired but needs to understand that this team will have to go through growing pains with inexperienced players in key roles.

With the free agent market hampered by all of the restricted free agents this offseason, the League has seen a flurry of trades. Draft day should be no different as many more established players are rumored to be available for trade in exchange for draft picks.





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Bring On The Beast

"The Beast" has finally been traded. After months of speculation, wide receiver Brandon Marshall has been traded from the Denver Broncos to the Miami Dolphins. The Broncos will receive Miami's second round pick in the upcoming 2010 NFL draft and a second round pick in next year's draft.


The Seahawks were thought to have been the leading contender for his services, but obviously Jeff Ireland and the Dolphins came up with the right price.

The Dolphins are giving Marshall a new contract with a boat load of guaranteed money. Twenty seven millions dollars of guaranteed money to be exact. I hope the newly married Marshall has put his checkered past behind him. Giving a player with behavior issues a ton of money in a city with a well documented night life is a big risk. It is obvious that the Dolphins feel the possible reward is much greater than the risk.


Marshall is an extremely physical wide receiver and adds to the Dolphins already "smashmouth" offensive identity. The person probably most happy with this trade is fellow Dolphins wide receiver Ted Ginn. He has struggled in his role of being the main target. With Marshall now receiving the lion's share of defensive attention in the passing game, Ginn will see more single coverage and will be able to do what he does best: beat cornerbacks deep.

 Many will say that after this trade, the Broncos are falling apart, and they have given away their best players in the last two offseasons. While I don't totally disagree, it is hard to deny the fact that Jay Cutler struggled with the Bears last year, and Marshall has been a malcontent. 

Josh McDaniels has shipped out most of the unhappy players (with the exception of tight end Tony Scheffler) and now has "control" of the locker room. The question remains, if those in the locker room are going to be talented enough to win football games.


The acquistion of Marshall definitely changes the upcoming draft. As many pundits (including me) had wide receiver Dez Bryant in our mock drafts at one point or another going to the Dolphins with the 12th overall pick on April 22nd. This scenario is obviously dead. The good news for Bryant is teams like the Broncos at pick 11 and the Seahawks at pick 14 are in the market for a talented receiver. 

 


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You Make The Call

As I watch Georgia District Attorney Fred Bright tell the world that he "could not prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt".  I can respect the fact that he did not want to waste tax payers' money on a case he doubted he could get a conviction on.

I can not help but also think, that beyond a reasonable doubt, something went terribly wrong that evening in Milledgeville, GA.  The description of the victim having - and  I'm paraphrasing - lacerated bruised bleeding genitals still sends chills down my spine.

I have detailed the downfall of the Pittsburgh Steelers since winning Superbowl XLIII and hadn't really imagined the possibility of the team losing Roethlisberger and Holmes. But this is now a reality.

The prosecutor's office could not prosecute for "sexual assault" but repeating asked if the victim and her family wanted to pursue "assault" charges.  It sounds like they might have been able to go after the lesser charge.  If the victim decides to file a civil suit, expect that to cost Big Ben a pretty penny along with adding fuel to the case going on against him in Nevada.

What is clear to me is this:  Big Ben beat the tar out of a twenty year old college student in a night club bathroom.  Santonio Holmes was traded because the Steelers knew that this terrible Monday morning was coming.  Holmes' suspension and the lurid details of Roethlisberger's assault were too much for a proud organization to take in one afternoon.

Even though I don't believe that Roethlisberger will be traded or released, I do believe at least a four game suspension is coming for the Steelers' starting quarterback.

The possible suspension of Roethlisberger and the known suspension of Holmes would have been a media firestorm.  The question would have been: are the Steelers falling apart?  By trading Holmes, they only have one gigantic issue instead of what seems to be many.

The face of the Steelers' franchise and his now permanently tarnished reputation seem to be the biggest problem of them all.




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Weeding Out Problems

http://fitsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/santonio-holmes1.jpg

Superbowl XLIII MVP, Santonio Holmes, has been traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers to the New York Jets.

Holmes has had a rocky offseason to say the least, and the trade doesn't surprise me much considering his "the fans don't sign my checks" rant on Twitter.

That being said, his attitude is a perfect fit for the Jets' locker room.  His life with the New York press should be  even more interesting.

Reports have sprung up that Holmes will miss four games for either missing or failing a drug test. This is very risky move because Holmes has little or no regard for the drug testing program, as earlier this month he tweeted that he was going to "wake and bake".

The Steelers obviously don't want to continue to play Holmes' game. They shipped the former first round pick off to the Jets for just a fifth round pick. This gives them a hole in their receiving corps, but it is obvious that they were favoring locker room sanity over on the field talent.

This move signals that the Steelers aren't going to sit around and watch their organization's reputation be ruined. Ben Roethlisberger has heard this message loud and clear.

The Jets are obviously looking to win now as this is a move that is a high risk/high reward endeavor. Holmes has obviously gone rogue, and the Jets will have to reel him in.





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The Sims: Detroit Lions Style

Adam Shefter reported that guard Rob Sims has been traded from the Seattle Seahawks to the Detroit Lions.

The move has a direct impact on the second overall pick in this month's NFL Draft. There has been much discussion in the media of the Lions using that pick to select Russell Okung, of Oklahoma State. That would allow them to insert Okung into the left tackle slot and move the current left tackle, Jeff Backus, to the left guard slot.

Sims natural position is left guard, so we can now assume that Backus will be left at his current position. This would all but eliminate the possibility of Okung being selected at that number two pick. The arrows seem to be pointing stronger in the direction of Ndamukong Suh being the Lions pick in that slot.





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Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

The Donovan McNabb trade news is coming in at a fast and furious pace. Mike Shanahan has made a statement on the trade to make it official.

Shanahan said how great McNabb is and how he is happy to have him. No shocker there. It is his job to make it sound like the Redskins came out on top in this deal.

Did the Redskins come out winners? We have to have a trade to which we can compare. If we use the 2008 Brett Favre trade as an example, a 4th rounder for Favre to go to a different conference compared to McNabb's deal that sent a 2nd round and a 3rd or 4th rounder to an intradivision team is not as great a value.

To keep things in prospective though, it was a small miracle that Washington was able to make the trade in the first place. Teams trading within the division is a criminal act in fantasy football, let alone real football.

The Eagles now have another draft pick for 2010 (that gives them 12 picks), and McNabb's replacement in tow.

It would be premature of either side to claim victory in this trade. In the ever changing world of NFL football, perception is just as important as reality.





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McNabbed?

Donovan McNabb has no reason to want to leave the Eagles, but apparently they are ready to deal him according to several sources.

While it is reported that the Rams have offered their second round pick in this April’s draft for the star quarterback, that report was quickly denied by Rams General Manager, Billy Devaney. Jason LaCanfora of the NFL Network also reported that the Rams were out of the running, but that the Raiders, Bills, and Cardinals were in the mix.

Apparently McNabb is hoping to go to a contender (says “Cardinals” while pretending to cough) but has no leverage in the deal. The Raiders are the team reportedly showing the most interest, but the Rams hold the draft picks with the most leverage.  If you are the Rams and your offensive line lets pass rushers through like turnstiles, why would you want an injury prone quarterback that is making a ton of money and going to be 34 this season? The solution seems stop-gap at best.

For now McNabb is floating in the space between the team he is on not wanting him anymore and not having a team that actually is willing to pony up enough to make him “feel wanted”.

AWWWWWKWARRRRD!

Every Morning Quarterback by Aharon Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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