sides
Here is the full story, not the shoddy one on ESPN.
So Atlanta gets Lelie, Washington gets Duckett, Denver gets draft picks.
Who is the winner?
Washington obviously is better off especially with Portis being hurt. Gibbs will know how to best use Duckett and make no mistake, Duckett can run. He’s young and a bruiser. Great fit for the ‘Skins.
Denver could be a huge winner. Plus the way Shanahan stockpiles and deals draft choices to move up in the first round is uncanny. Just see what he did this year to get Jay Cutler AND Javon Walker. Plus they get rid of Lelie without gaining another player to add to their already crowded roster.
While it would have been awesome to get Duckett, it would have cost a roster spot and with all the other backs in Denver not sure that would have been best.
Speaking of Duckett, how cool of a move is this for him? He goes to a playoff team, great city, and plays for Gibbs - a running game guru.
The Losers…
Despite what Lelie’s agent is saying (”This is a win-win for all parties”) this is what I think.
Atlanta wanted depth at their WR position but in order to get it they trade away their insurance policy on a 30-year old back in Warrick Dunn (who isn’t exactly Mr. Ironman either). On top of that they get a mal-content, overrated receiver who wanted out of Denver because he wasn’t going to be the Number 1 WR.
Guess what? He’s not going to be the No. 1 WR in Atlanta either. Plus, Atlanta is not as good of a team as Denver. They’ll be lucky to make the playoffs and that’s only because they are in the pitiful NFC.
Lelie is the biggest loser. He’s lost some of his signing bonus, a chunk of his salary, he’s still a No. 3 WR on a worse team. Which means he’ll miss out on the playoff checks AND the mentoring he could have gotten from Rod and Javon. Plus he’s missed all of training camp so now he has to learn a new offense, new terminology on the fly, get in game shape around teammates who only know him through the media as opposed to Denver where despite his boneheadedness, almost all of the team liked him.
Yeah for Washington and Denver. Hope it works out for you Atlanta and Lelie.
Tags: Atlanta Falcons, Broncos, Duckett, Lelie, NFL trades, Redskins
3 responses so far ↓
1 clay // Aug 23, 2006 at 1:25 pm
ill agrue with you on the pitiful nfc comment. you got the panthers, seahawks and bears as legitimate superbowl contenders. and you have the giants, redskins, vikings, and potentially arizona as threats to those teams. the nfc is a much better conference this year and i think is equal to the afc.
2 Grant // Aug 23, 2006 at 1:56 pm
Clay,
We’ll see once the season starts but for the sake of argument…
Potential AFC Super Bowl Teams: Colts, Steelers, Broncos, Chiefs, Patriots
Potential AFC Spoilers: Cincy, Baltimore, Miami, Chargers, Jacksonville
That’s 10 teams and only 6 playoff spots.
Only the Panthers and Seahawks really can run with upper tier of AFC at this point.
I will say that the NFC East is going to be the best division race to watch this year. It’s a shame only 2 of those teams are going to the playoffs…
and I’m not sure which two that will be.
3 clay // Aug 23, 2006 at 6:36 pm
well i wouldnt put the chiefs in the superbowl category, nor do i think mcnair will be enough to put baltimore into the playoffs, especially with cincy and pittsburgh in their division. speaking of the steelers, they lost a very good all purpose guy in randel el, and the team leader in the bus, but they still have the defense to do it. i think there will be more equality in the afc and nfc this year.
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