You win some, you lose some and sometimes you're just better off without Jay Cutler.
Eight weeks into the season is not too soon to start dissecting some of the year's biggest trades, and I'm interested in five of them -- starting with the Cutler deal to Chicago.
That trade was supposed to make the Bears, but last time I checked they were drifting in the middle of the NFC North. Maybe the second half of the season is different, but I can't wait that long. I want to re-examine these deals now. So let's get started.
Jay Cutler deal
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| Kyle Orton has helped make Josh McDaniels look like a smart trader. (Getty Images) |
The move was supposed to say more about McDaniels than Cutler, and maybe it did. Maybe it said he knew what he was doing. All I know is that Denver is 6-1, where it was never close with Cutler. In fact, it was 17-20 in three seasons with Cutler and never better than 8-8 in any year, including last season when it lost its last three to blow the playoffs.
Cutler honks contend their quarterback didn't have a chance because Denver's defense stunk, but you're talking to the wrong guy. I covered the San Diego Chargers when their defense had holes larger than Mission Bay. Yet Dan Fouts overcame them. Cutler did not, and, come to think of it, maybe that says something about him.
Getting Kyle Orton in return was supposed to be a laugh, with critics so outraged they all but suggested that Harry Frazee was calling the shots in Denver. They said McDaniels was in over his head, that Orton was a stiff and that the Broncos were dead meat. They forgot to throw in JaMarcus Russell is the next Peyton Manning, too.
Anyway, they were wrong. The Broncos are in first; Chicago is not. Orton has nine touchdown passes and one interception; Cutler has 11 TD passes and 11 interceptions. Orton has six wins; Cutler has four. McDaniels is a Coach of the Year candidate; Chicago's Lovie Smith is not. I think you get the picture.
Denver threw in a fifth-round draft pick that Chicago turned into wide receiver Johnny Knox, and that was smart. He looks like he could be a player. Chicago, meanwhile, threw in three draft picks, including a first-rounder Denver turned into Robert Ayers. I'm not so sure about that one. He hasn't made much of a contribution to this point. But Orton has, and that's what matters.
The Winner: Denver. The Broncos may not have the more talented quarterback, but they have a quarterback who wins. Tell me which you'd rather have.
Mark Sanchez deal
Another blockbuster, this time pulled on Draft Day. First, the Browns hire the Jets' ex-head coach, Eric Mangini. Then Mangini decides he wants ex-players to make the move with him, so he swings a deal for defensive end Kenyon Coleman, defensive back Abram Elam, quarterback Brett Ratliff and the Jets' top two draft choices. In exchange he surrenders the fifth pick of the draft, which the Jets turn into quarterback Mark Sanchez.
Critics complained the Jets gave up too much, but you gotta be kidding me. They desperately needed a franchise quarterback and believed Sanchez was that man. So they did what they had to do to get him, trading away players who may not have figured in Rex Ryan's plans. Granted, Elam and Coleman are starters. So is center Alex Mack, whom the Browns picked up in the first round. But the Browns gave up the fifth pick of the draft, for crying out loud. More to the point, they passed on a chance for a franchise quarterback.
OK, let's be honest: They weren't going to draft a quarterback when they spent a first-round pick -- no, two -- on a quarterback two years earlier and invested millions in Derek Anderson. But when Mangini insisted that Ratliff be included in this deal, it might have been a clue that he wasn't sold on Anderson or Brady Quinn.
Yeah, I know, Ratliff hasn't played. Don't get me started. I don't know what Cleveland is doing. The Browns turned this deal into three starters but passed on a possible franchise quarterback. Lesson: You go nowhere without a quarterback, and Cleveland is learning the hard way.
The Winner: The Jets, though it's a closer call than you might imagine. The reason: The Browns did get three starters out of the deal. But they lost out on a possible franchise player, too. I don't know if Sanchez is closer to "The Sanchize" or "Broadway Schmo," but someone had to find out, right? So that someone is the Jets. They did more than find someone to help them chase New England; they may have solved the most important position in the game.
Matt Cassel deal
The New England Patriots gambled when they put the franchise tag on a backup quarterback, and they won. They could have been stuck paying $14.65 million to Tom Brady's clipboard carrier, but they weren't -- and they weren't because Kansas City came to the rescue, paying a relatively inexpensive price for their next starting quarterback. The Chiefs gave up a second-rounder for Matt Cassel, an unknown until pressed into duty last year because of Brady's season-ending injury, and rewarded him with a big contract.
Surrendering a second-rounder for Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel seems like a steal, and maybe it is. But the Patriots cleared $14.65 million off the books and got something in return for Cassel, who would have been an unrestricted free agent if the Patriots hadn't acted.
In short, the Patriots gained a second-rounder -- safety Patrick Chung -- for someone they were going to lose anyway, so that was smart. But Kansas City found the franchise quarterback it sought after trading away Trent Green, and that was smart, too.
The move could be construed as a Chiefs gamble, with Kansas City investing its future in someone who could be the next Scott Mitchell. But GM Scott Pioli gets the benefit of the doubt. He knows and understands Cassel from their days in New England, and he has a track record of making the right moves. This might be another. All I know is that when you consider that Seattle paid a first-rounder for wide receiver Deion Branch and Dallas two firsts for Joey Galloway, the Chiefs could look like geniuses if Cassel makes it.
The Winner: Kansas City in a photo finish. The Chiefs have a quarterback, and they paid a second-rounder to get him. Sharp. But New England would have lost Cassel if it hadn't done something. By protecting him with a franchise tag it picked up a second-round choice it didn't have. Also sharp.
Tony Gonzalez deal
Another Pioli move, this one granting the All-Pro tight end his wish to go somewhere he can win. The trade cost Atlanta a second-round choice, and from where I sit that's cheap. Sure, Tony Gonzalez has been around the league a long time, but at 33 he has two to three good years left. More important, he gives the Falcons something they didn't have, which is a pass-catching tight end. A year ago, Atlanta's tight ends combined for 19 catches; Gonzalez already has 33 and is the team's second-leading receiver.
Ask Matt Ryan if this was a good move.
From Kansas City's vantage point, Gonzalez didn't fit in with its push for the future. But here's what I don't understand: With the Chiefs acquiring a franchise quarterback -- or who they believe is a franchise quarterback -- don't you try to give him franchise receivers, too? Gonzalez qualifies, leading the team in catches, yards receiving and TDs a year ago.
But when you subtract him, what do you have? Dwayne Bowe and nothing else. That was apparent when the team jumped this week at the chance to add Chris Chambers who, by the way, is only two years younger than Gonzalez and not nearly as reliable. That mixed message has me wondering what the Chiefs are up to.
The Winner: Atlanta. The Falcons picked up a playmaker who helps them now. Kansas City gains a second-rounder in return, and while we don't know what the Chiefs do with it we do know it won't be a high second. The Falcons are too good to go in the jar.
Richard Seymour deal
One thing we know about Bill Belichick: Unless your name is Tom Brady or Randy Moss, there are no guarantees. Richard Seymour was supposed to be the team's best defensive player and one of the best defensive players anywhere, yet the Patriots didn't flinch when given the chance to move him to Oakland for a first-round draft pick.
The trade was another gamble by New England, and it may pay off big. Seymour has one year left on his contract, so the Patriots are spared a big pay day. In return, the Patriots gain a high first-round draft pick, a choice that looks better the worse JaMarcus Russell looks.
Essentially, the Patriots are gambling that they can get by this year without Seymour -- just as they bet they could make it in 2006 without Deion Branch -- and will recoup their loss next April with someone who is younger, cheaper and, possibly, better. So far, the move is paying off, with New England on top of the AFC East.
Meanwhile, Seymour does not have a new contract, and one can only wonder what the Raiders are doing. You don't acquire someone in the last year of his contract unless you plan to reward him with a new deal. Seymour is a talent the Raiders would be advised to retain, but there's nothing going on there, which means they may not.
Of course, Oakland overpays for players, and maybe that's how it keeps Seymour. All I know is that the Raiders run the risk of losing someone who cost plenty, and all for one year of service.
The Winner: New England. In the future, the commissioner should prevent Oakland from dealing with New England. Talk about a balance of trade deficit. The Raiders have an uncanny knack of figuring out what the Patriots need ... then satisfying it.
