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The Patriots were very active early in the offseason, trading away draft picks to load the team up with talented veterans, apparently in an attempt to keep the team super-bowl-competitive while they still have TB12 on the roster.
The fact is, though, NFL teams on the whole don’t engage in lot of trades. Recent seasons have seen front office types getting a bit more creative about using trades to enhance team building, as teams that need draft picks unload unhappy or unproductive players, and teams that need a piece to establish themselves as legitimate contenders trade away draft capital to ‘win now’.
The Bills, Eagles , and Rams were involved in two trades this week that formed a 'matched set' (only the Bills were involved in both trades) that seemed to make sense for each of the teams involved (article 1 - article 2), although Sammy Watkins, key player in one of the trades, appeared shocked to have been traded.
Jason Fitzgerald wrote the following in one of the articles I linked above:
I definitely think this is a trade that works for both sides and has little risk for either team. The Rams are the team that gains the biggest upside but also absorbs potential for on field disaster. The Eagles are a better team in 2017, barring injury to a receiver, than they were yesterday. The Bills are better set for the future and probably don’t lose much than they were at noon today.
I hope more teams follow these examples set by the three teams today. Trades were something we discussed in our book Crunching Numbers (shameless plug- available at Amazon) and how as general managers got younger and more removed from the pure football background that they would see the various possibilities that existed with trades rather than the traditional stay put and cut later approach favored for so many years. These teams all have front office personnel that fits that criteria and hopefully it rubs off on more squads. It makes the NFL much more exciting and can be very beneficial for all involved.
I invite you to use the comments section to discuss trade possibilities.
- Sitting here, 4 weeks prior to the regular season, which Redskins player would you be willing to trade to make the team stronger?
- Which team(s) do you think you could trade him to?
- What compensation do you think you could get in return?
Poll
Which current Redskin player is least likely to be a Redskin in 2018?
This poll is closed
-
29%
Kirk Cousins
-
34%
Baushaud Breeland
-
2%
Mack Brown
-
4%
Niles Paul
-
10%
Arie Kuoandjio
-
4%
Terrelle Pryor
-
0%
Zach Brown
-
0%
D.J. Swearinger
-
2%
Will Compton
-
3%
Colt McCoy
-
8%
Trent Murphy