It’s been a long time since an NFL team traded high profile
players for other high profile players where it doesn’t involve multiple draft
picks. The last I can remember is the Champ Bailey (WAS) and Clinton Portis
(DEN) trade. I’d say looking back, the
trade worked out well for both teams.
However, in today’s NFL, no GM or Owner dares to make that kind of
trades again. Here’s a few reasons why I think this is so:
1) Superstar players now a day are signing contracts that
are worth way more than we have seen in the recent past. How realistic is it to
trade a guy making 10-15 million a year? How about one of these 20million per
year QBs? Hard to move these kinds of contracts, this is why teams prefer to trade
for draft picks instead.
2) Most players that are deemed “worthy” of a trade in the
off season are probably playing on a non-playoff team. These are the types of
teams that want a flurry of draft picks instead of one player. Quantity over
quality for a rebuilding a team.
3) Unlike the other 4 major sports, there’s really no such
thing as a “rental” player. This is because there is a Franchise tag teams can
use on a player they trade for (unless the guy is scheduled to be a restricted
free agent). The player can technically
negotiate with another team and sign with them but they would have to give up 2
First Round draft picks, probably not worth it.
There are probably many other factors as to why we don’t see
many Player for Player blockbusters anymore, but these are the most important
that I can think of. I definitely would love to see more of the Champ Bailey – Clinton
Portis trades but in this era of football, there’s just too much to risk in
these kinds of trades. There needs to be a bold GM who will sacrifice a good
player to get another one. Just who will it be? If ever.
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