Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports via Twitter in the Ernie Sims to Eagles trade, Denver gets Philly's 5th rd (137 via Cleve); Lions get TE Tony Scheffler and a 7th round pick from Denver. Link
At this point I'm willing to give any pissed off member of the Broncos' offense a pass for bitching about McDaniels. He has alienated and traded away three of the top offensive performers from Shanahan's regime.
Why in the world would the Lions trade arguably their best defensive player for ANOTHER Tight end? Is Rich Kotite their GM?
This trade makes zero sense for the Lions. Why give up a good young LB for a second TE when they already have a good one with Pettigrew?!!? I'm baffled.
Believe me..I'm not defending it...and I think it's idiotic. But the only thing i can come up w/ is that this is similar to the Vilma/D'rob situation w/ Mangini. Schwartz likes big athletic and physical LBers....and Sims is much more of a undersized fast/flow to the ball type. He doesn't exactly fit schwartz's scheme..but he was their D's best player and you trade him for a # 2 TE???
They made it clear they wanted a 2nd TE in the draft, but I assumed that meant someone who was primarily a blocker. The Sims angle just makes it so much worse.
They drafted DeAndre Levy last season. I know the staff in Detroit really likes him, but still...you don't trade away a good player that you drafted in the top ten not too long ago for another team's garbage. Levy is going to be a hell of a player by the way.
The Lions were so enamored with Pettigrew's ability to block and catch that they didn't realize he couldn't run all that well. Sheffler gives them a proven two TE set that they want to work out of for their base offense and another weapon for Stafford. I think they're going to go after Okung in the first and put as much protection and as many weapons around Stafford as possible.
Schwartz and Mayhew had nothing to do with Sims being drafted so they had no extra attachment to him. He wasn't a pro-bowler so I can understand why they had no problem letting him go.
Agreed and I think they might trade down with their 2nd and then try and trade for Haynesworth. Letting Washington either trade down or get a new DT like Suh for their new 3-4
I did alittle research on some blogs and I guess alot of Lions fans feel like Sims has not lived up to expectations. He apparently over pursues, misses tackles, is injury prone and doesn't exactly have great character. The few times I've watched Sims I've been nothing but impressed. I guess if they like Levy and feel Sims is falling out of favor you justify trading him while he still has some value on the open market. The problem is...I'm just not sure how a back-up TE who offers very little as a blocker improves them in any way.
It is going to depend heavily on how the Lions use Scheffler but this trade could be worth it. He may very well lead the team in receptions this season. Their offense is in flux right now, Scheffler could be the best offensive weapon on that team not named Calvin Johnson.
Nate Burleson, Brandon Pettigrew, and the almighty Calvin Johnson will make sure Scheffler doesn't even come close to leading that team in receptions. I think it's good that they're getting more weapons for Stafford though. After looking things over, I think they're just trying to unload a heavy defensive contract so they can pay Suh or McCoy big bucks.
