So one of my favorite things about baseball is that there is always an exciting trade that comes along. You see blockbuster trades in the offseason, you see them in mid season and you even see them at the trade deadline. 5 days after the World Series ends until July 31st (and to an extent August), I am on the edge of my seat reading any and all websites that could list rumors and potential trades. Well that time is now here for football. The trading season has come and the deadline is only 4 days away. While there haven’t been, and usually are not, many big trades (or trades at all), there has been one notable one and couple of rumors that I would like to discuss.
First up: Aaron Curry traded from the Seattle Seahawks to the Oakland Raiders for a 2012 7th round pick and conditional 5th round pick in 2013. This looks like a steal to me. A former 4th overall pick that has 156 tackles in 35 games, 5.5 sacks, 9 pass deflections and 4 forced fumbles. In 2010, he ranked 5th in tackles, 4th in sacks and 2nd in fumbles on the Seahawks. This after ranking 4th in tackles, 4th in sacks and tied for 1st in fumbles in 2009. I haven’t seen any tape on him so I don’t know about his mistakes, but his stats look quite promising to me. I think he will flourish in the Silver and Black. Steal for the Raiders.
Second trade: Derrick Mason traded to the Houston Texans for conditional draft pick. What’s this a sign of, Andre Johnson is going to take longer than expected or Derrick Mason is finished as a real good productive WR? I’m going to say both. Andre Johnson’s hamstring injury looked awfully bad to me. I wouldn’t be shocked if we did not see him again for a good 6 weeks. While Derrick Mason is certainly no Johnson, it’s at least another weapon Schaub can throw to. On the year, Mason has 13 catches for 115 yards and 0 TDs. That’s going to put him on pace for 41 grabs and 368 yards. A far cry from his career average of 66 catches, 849 yards and 4 TDs. Only once since being a full-time starter has he had fewer than 800 yards in a season, he’s far off from that right now. If this trade is for anything higher than a 7th round pick, I give the advantage to the Jets. Mason just isn’t all that anymore.
Next up: Reggie Wayne and Robert Mathis could be on the move. According to the linked article, we have Adam Schefter to thank for this rumor. He suggested Wayne to the Bills and Mathis to the Jets. Regardless, the fact that this rumor came up shows this team is in rebuild mode. This also puts a little more truth behind Jim Irsay’s wanting to get Andrew Luck(more on that in another post). I think they would be smart to move these two players. Get the compensation while you can. Reggie Wayne is an older receiver, but he’s still got a good 2-3 years left in him to give a team a very good number 2 receiver. After all, it was just last year he set a career high with 111 catches. Add to that he hasn’t had less than 1,000 receiving yards in the last seven years and you’ve still got a very capable receiver. Mathis is a beast. He has 3.5 sacks for a suspect defense that has no one other than Dwight Freeney and himself, he’s posted double digit sacks in four of his nine season and has forced 37 fumbles in his career. He’s a very underrated DE on a terrible defense that can do some serious damage on a good one.
Now I don’t entirely agree with Schefter on this rumor. I think Mathis would be an excellent addition to the Jets. I’m not really sold on Wayne to the Bills. They have some explosive WRs on that team as it is. I think Wayne would be better as 49er. The 49ers need an elite-ish receiver after Josh Morgan went down. Michael Crabtree cannot stay healthy and is more of a Wes Welker like receiver and Braylon Edwards continues to have stone hands. With that said, I think they could get multiple mid-round picks or possibly a higher round and mid-round pick if they can get a bidding war going.
Lastly: Brandon Lloyd could very well be out of Denver. This move surprises me quite a bit. John Fox definitely loves the run game, but to move Lloyd just didn’t make sense especially since he’s their only semi-proven starter. They would be putting Tim Tebow in a bad spot to start off his career as the Broncos starter. Yes Eric Decker has been good, but that’s really about it in the passing game that he can look to. Demaryius Thomas has played in 10 games in his two year career while missing 11 so far due to injury and Eddie Royal’s 2008 season looks to be the best one you’ll ever see out of him. However, he is in the last year of his contract. Suddenly it makes more sense. Might as well get the most you can out of him.
With that said, I would make the asking price high. Higher round pick, maybe a 2nd round. In a league that loves the long ball, Lloyd’s 15.8 average could be a big help on a team. I would say the Vikings could be a good landing spot for him, the 49ers could look to bringing Lloyd back, Tennessee just lost Kenny Britt so they could make a run and perhaps in a surprise the Bengals could go after him. Having Lloyd line up opposite of A.J. Green could only help them both.
Now we wait. Wait and see if any of these trades actually happen. And when they do, expect an analysis article here as I’ll be watching as much as possible.
UPDATE: Looks like I was off a little bit. The Broncos appear to be asking for a third – fifth round pick in exchange for Lloyd. But Tennessee does indeed appear to be interested. More information as we get it!
UPDATE 2: Niners and Titans appear to be in on Lloyd as do the Patriots and Rams. Looks like 2 teams have been correctly predicted to be in on him!
UPDATE 3: 49ers are showing a strong interest. It’s also been reported that the Broncos have not received an offer better than a 7th round pick. I’d hold on to him to for that price..
UPDATE 4: He’s gone to St. Louis. No word on compensation yet.
UPDATE 5: The Rams will give up a 6th round pick, which will turn into a 5th round when (yes, I said when) Lloyd catches 30 passes.
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