Apparently some Browns fans are bummed that CLE missed out on Robert Griffin III (RG3) because the Washington Redskins are presumably going to draft him at #2 in this year’s NFL draft (presuming the Colts take Andrew Luck with the #1 overall pick). If the Browns were willing to trade 3 1st round picks just to move up 2 spots, then thankfully they were only saved by an even more foolish franchise willing to give the St. Louis Rams a better deal for that #2 pick.
Enjoy dumping the ball off to Roy Helu & Jabar Gaffney in the district Mr. Griffin
Daniel Snyder’s Redskins front office jumped the shark, giving up an insane package to move up 4 spots in the 2012 draft. In exchange for the 2nd overall pick, WAS gave STL the Redskins’ 1st round pick this year (6th overall), plus the Redskins’ #1 pick the next 2 years. To make the deal look like a shady trade a seasoned Madden franchise owner would do to a CPU team, the Rams were even able to squeeze this year’s 2nd round pick (presumably 38th overall) out of WAS too.
Here’s the full story from ESPN.
If the Redskins were getting a once in a generation QB (like Andrew Luck), I could maybe see this trade being sensible given the fact that the league is so offense-oriented now & rewards teams with good QBs. But all this for RG3??
Griffin is certainly an athletic specimen & did some nice things at a relatively small school (Baylor was a perennial doormat in the continually watered-down Big 12), but giving up this much for him is totally unjustifiable unless he becomes a transcendent player for WAS. Transcendent as in Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana – and even those guys were surrounded by Pro Bowl talent for most of their careers.
Griffin will probably be exciting to watch, but with no weapons it will probably be a Jake Plummer/Doug Flutie/Vince Young-type of exciting, not Michael Vick-type of exciting. Even if he has Vick’s career (minus jail time), that’s not even good enough to justify the draft picks. Vick has 2 career playoff wins, & only 1 trip to the conference championship (a 27-10 loss @ PHI in 2004), & his style of play has led to more injuries than deep playoff runs. Yes Vick is great for fantasy football & using in Madden, but RG3 will need to be a top-shelf pocket passer to have continued success in the NFL.
Still think the Redskins’ didn’t give up too much? Check out this NFL Draft Trade Value Chart, which explains that trading the Redskins’ 1st-round pick this year (6th overall) plus 1 future 1st round pick (given a middle of the 1st round draft value such as the 16th pick in the 2013 draft) is a fair trade (2600 value points for each side).
Based on the trade chart (which is an established system that smart teams seriously consider before making any trade involving draft picks), the Redskins gave away an extra 1st-rounder and 2nd-rounder rather than work to find a better deal elsewhere or trade down & draft a QB later.
Here’s how the deal shakes out:
Redskins receive:
2nd overall pick in 2012 draft: Worth 2600 points
Rams receive:
6th overall pick in 2012 draft: Worth 1600 points
38th overall pick in 2012 draft: Worth 520 points
WAS’ 1st round pick in 2013: Worth 1000 points if we generically assign it the 16th pick, though the ‘Skins have finished with an average record of 5-11 the last 3 years, so that pick & the 2014 pick could be much higher/valuable than just the 16th pick, especially if RG3 doesn’t pan out
WAS’ 1st round pick in 2014: Worth 1000 points as well if we generically assign the 16th pick here as well
Total for Rams’ haul: 4120 points
Credit the Rams for having the nerve to reportedly sit on CLE’s offer of 3 1st round picks & possibly more to patiently allow WAS to make STL the deal of the century!
Bear in mind that after last season’s lockout, the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) restructured rookie salaries, so the high draft picks don’t come in being the highest paid player on the team before they’ve played a down anymore. In fact, the new rookie wage scale makes rookies much more affordable & therefore more salary-cap friendly than expensive veteran free agents. Rookies will play just as well (or poorly) as they always have in the last 10-15 seasons, but now they won’t be paid nearly as much, which makes them much more valuable than in year’s past!
Smart teams like NE, PIT, BAL, IND, PHI, GB, etc. traditionally never over-reach for a high draft pick or trade up much, while teams with poor recent track records such as WAS, OAK, CLE, etc. go Bobby Beathard-style rather frequently…some food for thought.
Bobby Beathard as Chargers GM: "Wait, so you'll trade me your 2nd-round pick in this year's draft for my 1st-round pick next year? Let's do it!"
