Football is the
most popular sport in American, making billions of dollars of every
year and dominating the American sports landscape but needs to learn
something from baseball. There is plenty of parody in the NFL with
about 50% of the playoff teams turning over every year but bad teams
need to realize they’re bad.
The hard
salary cap is a big factor in why there’s parody because top teams
lose players that earn big contracts to go elsewhere but there is a
more proactive approach that should be adopted by bad teams, sell. If
you’re bad then make trades, clear cap and get more draft picks. It’s
not really a difficult concept to understand but for some reason it
isn’t in the NFL.
It seems to
have ramped up a bit more this season, especially fresh off of
Mohamed Sanu and Emmanuel Sanders getting traded but that should just
be the start. The Washington Redskins still are reported to not be
interested in moving Trent Williams. Why? At this point do you really
think he’s coming back? You’re a terrible team that isn’t going
anywhere. He’s at a premiere position that would bring back a boat
load of picks. Look at what the Dolphins got for Larry Tunsil.
Miami is a
prime example to look at. Yes, they are terrible and tough to watch
but they picked a direction. You can’t make the argument that they
could afford to pay some of those guys, especially after giving up on
Minkah Fitzpatrick so quickly, but they’ve got a boat load of picks.
The NFL draft is a massive lottery and the more tickets you have the
better it is to hit it big. They haven’t done a whole lot and so
instead of sputtering a long as a middling team they’re tearing it
down. Now of course the Jimmy Johnson quote that it doesn’t matter
how many picks you have but who you pick is true, but it helps to
have a lot.
Maybe you
think you have a core in place like the Bears two years ago and think
you can add to it and they made it to 12-4 last year and a division
title, but do you think times like the Broncos, Redskins or Bengals
are going to magically going to surprise next season? Neither do I so
open shop for the veterans and players not going to be back and see
what you can get. Williams, Chris Harris, Derek Wolfe, AJ Green they
should all be on the move.
The
compensatory pick calculation is always a factor but that can be a
third round pick at most. Bottom out, improve your own picks and
stock up on others. It also could give you more cap space to help
accelerate the bounce back to prominence. It’s better to trade a
player one year early instead of one year too late. Will Sanu be a
good player for the Pats? Probably, but would he have been back after
the 2020 season when his contract runs out? Unlikely, and they
already have the first round pick Calvin Ridley to take a bigger role
as well.
I don’t think
the Khalil Mack trade was good for the Raiders, thanks again from a
Bears fan, because you draft to get a player like that and he was in
his prime. However, if Oakland decided to move on from Richie
Icognito that would make a lot of sense. He’s long in the tooth and
likely has a limited future with the Raiders already.
More cap space
and draft picks isn’t a bad thing. If you aren’t going to win or are
stuck in the middle then don’t push hope, push a plan and direction.
Move the vets, get more future cap space and picks and give yourself
a much better chance next year. If you’re a Denver fan would you
rather have Sanders the rest of the year or the 3rd and
4th round pick for next season?
The Redskins
are a terribly run franchise, there’s no doubt about that, but the
longer they hold on to Williams the more they show the ignorance when
it comes to their team. It’s a franchise I’ll never cheer for but
it’s obvious they need to tear it down and take notes from the other
bad teams that are already selling.