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This is the second post in a series that will take a look back at the best trades the Redskins have made in the history of the franchise. At the conclusion of the top 10 trades, we will vote to choose the very best trade. The posts will be random as far as the year the trade happened, today we focus on the 1999 draft when Charley Casserly took advantage of Mike Ditka's hard-on for Ricky Williams.
In the weeks prior to the 1999 draft Mike Ditka did nothing to hide his love for the Heisman Trophy winner, Ricky Williams. Ditka must be a horrible poker player because he was laying all his cards on the table, he was offering all of the Saints draft picks if he could move up to draft Williams. The Saints didn't have a 2nd round pick so the haul would be be the #12 pick in the 1st round plus picks in rounds 3-7. For reasons unknown, no GM had took Ditka up on his offer when the Redskins were on the clock with pick #5. Casserly had the balls to do it, and the trade would shape the Redskins roster for the better part of the next decade. Casserly got Ditka to throw in the Saints 1st & 3rd rounders in the 2000 draft. Casserly then traded the #12 pick along with the Saints 3rd,4th & 5th picks to the Bears to move back up to #7. The Redskins were then able to get the player they coveted all along in Georgia CB and future Hall of Famer Champ Bailey. Of course Bailey would later be shipped to the Broncos for Clinton Portis.
So, at this point the Redskins got a Pro Bowl running back and a HOF corner for the #5 pick. But, remember the Redskins still had the Saints 1st and 3rd picks in 2000. In 2000 the Redskins would trade their 1st Rd pick (#24) and the Saints (#12), along with a 4th & 5th to the 49ers for the #3 overall pick. With this pick the Redskins selected LT Chris Samuels, another perennial Pro Bowl player who was a rock for the next decade. When the dust settled and all the wheeling and dealing was done, the Redskins traded a 1st round pick for Bailey/Portis/Samuels...not too shabby. Cheers and Hail.
Related: Greatest Trades - Part I