Deal of the New Century?
With the San Francisco 49ers displaying a new level of offensive ineptitude in their 24-0 loss to the Seahawks on Monday night, this season appears to be a loss for Mike Nolan’s club. Even worse, they won’t have a first round pick in next year’s draft to help them rebuild. That pick now belongs to the Patriots, thanks to what could be the most lopsided trade the NFL has seen since the Hershel Walker trade of 1989.
In the first day of this year’s draft, the Patriots traded their first round pick (28th overall) to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for the 49ers’ 4th round pick (110th overall) and their future 2008 first-round selection. The 49ers picked tackle Joe Staley out of Central Michigan, who has struggled so far this year.
Meanwhile, the Patriots traded that 4th round pick to the Oakland Raiders for an obscure and shy wide receiver out of Marshall.
If the season ended today, the Patriots would be getting a top 5 pick from the 49ers next April, meaning that they could be in line for a prize prospect, such as LSU defensive tackle and Heisman Trophy candidate Glenn Dorsey. So they could be looking at a deal that nets them a young stud for years to come and perhaps the most explosive wide receiver in the league in exchange for a mediocre right tackle. Nice trade, huh?
Of course, this isn’t the only steal the Patriots have engineered on draft day. In 2003, they traded their first round pick (19th overall) to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for their second round pick (41st overall), and a first round pick in the 2004 draft. Baltimore drafted California QB Kyle Boller with the number 19 pick (which has worked out about as well as Ellen Degeneres writing her own monologues). Meanwhile, New England turned those picks into CB/S Eugene Wilson and DT Vince Wilfork (No. 21).
In 2004, they traded a second round pick to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for Corey Dillon, who ran for 1,635 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns that season, both career highs. The Bengals selected free safety Madieu Williams, who showed early promise, but has been frequently injured.
And let’s not forget who the Patriots got the rights to when they traded their first round pick to the New York Jets in 2000:
So a friendly word of advice to the other 31 general managers in the NFL come draft day. If you get a phone call and hear, “hey, it’s Scott Pioli with the Patriots, and boy do we have a deal for you!” I recommend you just hang up. Otherwise, you’re probably going to have this happen to you:
(Hey, who knew the WWE was that much fun?!)
NFL, Randy Moss, New England Patriots, trade, San Francisco 49ers, pantsed
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