Yea, I don't mind it for whomever takes him (presumably LA) but it's a head scratcher for the other. Wentz is worth a first round pick, maybe even top 10, but there's a huge difference between taking someone top 10 and trading up to do it.
With this trade I'll bet McCown isn't available now and either Daniel or Bradford will be dealt. I'm really hoping we DON'T trade into the top 10 unless we're getting an impact player and trading Mo to create cap space. Even though we may not need another CB, Jalen Ramsey would be a nice player along side Revis
@RapSheet The #Eagles aren't trading Sam Bradford. Instead, they created a situation where their rookie QB doesn't have to play for a year (or two).
The Eagles don't see themselves being this close to a top pick ever again. It's a lot cheaper moving from 9 than it is 15. Just ask the Rams
I'm sure most teams don't envision themselves picking in the top 10. Chargers and Ravens fans would've laughed in your face if you told them they'd both be in the top 6 before the season started.
I look at it statistically. What are the odds that the two top QB prospects in any draft will actually become franchise quarterbacks? For every guy that pans out (Cam Newton-1st overall pick, Andrew Luck-1st overall pick, Peyton Manning-1st overall pick, etc), how many guys have there been that didn't pan out (Ryan Leaf-2nd overall pick, Tim Couch-1st overall pick, Akili Smith-3rd overall pick, Joey Harrington-3rd overall pick, Jemarcus Russell-1st overall pick, etc)? I mean, even forgetting about the guys who were flat-out busts, how many former top QB prospects ended up being worth a trade like this? For example, even if one of these guys turns out to be Mathew Stafford (1st overall pick), that would be a huge disappointment and worth no where near all of the picks traded away by either team. My main point here is that drafting a QB at the top of the draft is such a gamble, in and of itself, that to trade away a shitload of picks and draft one just seems patently insane to me, barring the rare "can't miss" Andrew Luck/Peyton Manning prospect. And, even then, there really is no such thing as "can't miss." I don't know, I think what Philly just did is preposterous. It is very likely that either the Rams or Eagles will be monumentally disappointed 3-4 years from now. And, to be honest, it's probably more likely that both teams will be disappointed than it is that neither team will be.
I haven't watched either of the top QBs play, so I'm just relying on these pundits, but assuming Wentz is the franchise QB he's been made out to be, this is one of the dumbest trades ever by the Browns. Franchise QBs are incredibly hard to find.... Incredibly hard. If you don't have one you can't win, and 3/4s of the league is trying to get one. Teams like the Browns have been searching for years with no luck. They don't grow on trees and you're not going to get one if you're not at the top of the draft these days. The Browns are actually, for the first time in a while, in a position to get a franchise QB and they trade that opportunity away? Are they serious? I don't care how many picks they get in return, it will never be enough to trade away a franchise QB. Now, if Wentz is not the QB the pundits say he is, great job Cleveland. But man, what an enormous risk they just took that could turn out to be devastating. I can't help but think that this is the moneyball mentality at play here. Moneyball wasn't about winning a championship, it was about how to get the most wins for the least amount of dollars. Sasha couldn't help but seeing the "value" in trading one pick for a million picks, because they already have QBs who are decent enough to keep them average, so they can "get by", but that is not the way to win a championship. This will be interesting to watch. The Browns better pray Wentz turns out to be garbage or else their fans may literally revolt. About the only saving grace seems to be that if they completely whiff on this, they probably have the ammo in picks to give away next year and be on the other end of this trade if they want.
At this point, they're probably less worried about winning a championship than they are just in keeping their jobs by building a competitive team that doesn't suck balls. You make a point about franchise QBs, but perhaps they don't see either Goff or Wentz as a franchise caliber QB. If so, they'd be stupid to take him just because, especially when they have a ton of picks offered to them. With all those picks, if they draft well, they can pretty much re-make that team and build a quality team.
I think this trade may make it a lot harder for the Jets to now trade Mo or to get anything of any value in return.
The bolded is the critical phrase. Sure, if Wentz is a stud, the Eagles won the trade by a country mile. But, the problem is that, far too many times, the guys every pundit says are going to be studs, don't actually turn out to be studs. In fact, I'd argue that this is the case more often than not. Remember Tim Couch? The Browns sure do. Just limiting myself to the last 25-30 years and only looking at guys who were top 3 picks, we have: Tim Couch (1st overall pick) David Carr (1st overall pick) Jeff George (1st overall pick) Jemarcus Russell (1st overall pick) Ryan Leaf (2nd overall pick) Akili Smith (3rd overall pick) Joey Harrington (3rd overall pick) Will RG3 (2nd overall pick) be on this list one day? Did Alex Smith (1st overall pick) end up being worth the kind of trade the Eagles just made? What about Vinny Testaverde (1st overall pick - He ended up doing some nice things later in his career, but still)? Mathew Stafford (1st overall pick)? How many of these guys ever really live up to their pre-draft hype? Note: If we expand our search to include any QB taken in the top 10, it gets worse.
I agree on the what ifs, but when the position you're talking about is a franchise QB, the risk is way too high for the reward IMO. We're talking about the risk of losing out on a franchise QB. For me, that's not a risk I'm willing to take, especially since the NFL adopted the slotted salaries and you aren't forced to pay Bradford money every time you take a QB. If I'm the Browns, you stay there and take the QB, and if he sucks, you just pick another one and try again next year. You aren't sattled with a huge contract like it used to be. But the chance of trading that pick and missing out?.... Enormous. Even if you have reservations, you gotta pick him IMO
I'd agree that, if it was a true 50/50, the right thing to do would be to just sit there and take a shot at the QB. But, my impression is that it isn't a 50/50. Chances are, you're going to be disappointed. I'm going to try and verify my suspicion (later tonight) by posting every top 3 quarterback drafted in the last 30 NFL drafts and then I'm going to count how many of them, in my opinion, ended up not being worth what the Eagles just traded. My guess is that most will have ended up not being worth what the Eagles just gave up. In conclusion, I agree that it's an attempt at a home-run, but IMO, it's not a calculated gamble. It's a losing best most of the time.
Let me get this straight. The Eagles broke the bank for Bradford and made Daniel the highest paid backup in football. Now they traded the farm for Wentz or Goff. What the heck.
The Eagles GM just mortgaged his team's future and then got in front of the press and said 2 mutually exclusive sentences. I'd have faith in him if I was a Philly fan.
