GrandadB wrote:
"The point I'm making is that it requires having Talented Players to GET those Draft Picks Traded TO you... they aren't just gift wrapped for free."
I agree, and that is the way it should be, but, I would say sometimes not, as in the case of "The Big Dump" trade btw Chicago/Bling & New Orleans/jl1980.
Okay, back fo the the dump trade. Six players were traded by Chicago to New Orleans during the late FA period 3 for the 2027 season. Here's the group: FS Booth 11 yrs. 63/63, RG Burns 12 yrs, 70/70, Martin RT 10 yrs, 79/79, McAdoo RG 8 yrs, 72/72, Stone DT [b]15 yrs 40% retire[b] 81/81, RDE Vasquez 14 yrs 79/79.
Okay, we are getting closer now.
So we have : FS Booth 63/63 (11), RG Burns 70/70 (12), RT Martin 79/79 (10), RG McAdoo 72/72 (8), DT Stone 81/81 (15) and RDE Vasquez 79/79 (14).
Now, we need to know a few things.
1. New Orleans Roster. Did they need DL and OL help? Vasquez and Stone 'look' pretty good, and Martin is pretty good. Especially if Vasquez and Stone come with some Speed to pressure the QB. Depending on Weights, Burns and McAdoo could also be valuable. Smith just looks like Depth.
Because it looks like New Orleans just added 2 DL and 3 OL that are Starter to Back Up Quality.
2. What is New Orleans attempting to do? Are they trying to build a Short Term Winner? Do they have a Good Secondary or Good QB/RB that they are trying to help by getting this OL and DL?
3. What did New Orleans give up? If they gave up Three 1st Round Picks... well, that was dumb. If they gave up Three 3rd Round Picks, and maybe even Three 4th Round Picks, then they got Rentals that are likely better than they would have Drafted anyways.
4. How well/poorly has New Orleans Drafted? If Bust after Bust, maybe they just don't like the Draft and reasonably feel they can't get Talent there (which could go back to improper Weight Values, or to much emphasis on Skills that don't lead directly to Production... like when I put DTs at DE and expected something awesome that didn't happen).
After all, what good does keeping Picks do for New Orleans if they Draft like my beloved Cleveland Browns ever year?
Which is what I mean by Context.
Now, the fact that New Orleans failed to produce has very little bearing on if the Trades were 'Fair and Ethical'... you can have a great plan and **** at executing it.
I had a great plan, I was going to move my 2 Stud DTs out to DE, Trade for a great DT... and have my Starting DL set for the next 10 Seasons with 3 Monsters. It was a beautiful vision.
I didn't value the ability of Speed. I just figured my awesome DTs would eat up space, letting my LBs dominate. QBs would be pressured, RBs would be destroyed behind the line of scrimmage. It was going to be glorious.
Then the games were Played, I went something like 4-12, and my DEs did virtually nothing while my DT wasn't really killing it either. Because, to the Engine that runs the Games, Speed kills.
My LBs lacked Speed, so maybe the DL did it's job but the LBs couldn't hit those gaps and destroy? Either way, I learned real quick... I need Speed on the DL. So off goes the guy I just sent a 1st and 2nd to acquire, so I could move my DEs back to DT where they belong. Gone is my old 34 that I changed to, back to the 43 I had when I started.
My plan was solid in my mind, using Reality... but it doesn't match the Game Engine.
So did KC fleece me? Did my Trade ****?
No. It was a good value, and I got exactly what I was looking for. The issue was with my Defensive Design, with my Theory of how my Defense would play. My plan Failed, but the Trade was a great trade for both sides. I got the Stud DT I wanted, KC got Good Picks to use.
Sometimes the fault isn't in the Trade, but the execution of the Owner's Plan.