Breaking Down The Tony Scheffler Trade And Other Thoughts

When I woke up this morning, I came to this website and the first thing that I saw was that Tony had been traded. I thought to myself, "Finally! I wonder what we got" The answer is a 5th round pick. We also gave up a 7th round pick. I read the article on the front of MHR and all of the comments below. Many people were upset by the compensation. So let me try and put some perspective on this trade.

We traded Tony Scheffler to the Detroit Lions in a 3 team deal. Lions got Scheffler and our 7th round pick. Eagles got LB Ernie Sims and we got the Eagles 5th round pick.

The following trades have gone through this off season

Ted Ginn Jr traded to the San Francisco 49ers for a 5th round pick.

Santonio Holmes traded to the New York Jets for a 5h round pick.

Donovan McNabb traded to the Redkskins for 2010 2nd rounder and a 3rd or 4th rounder in 2011

Kerry Rhodes traded to the Cardinals for 2010 4th rounder and 2011 7th rounder

Anquan Boldin and a 5th round 2010 pick traded to the Ravens for 2010 3rd and 4th rounders

So let's put his into perspective

A former first round draft pick was traded for a 5th.

A former Super Bowl MVP was traded for a 5th

A 6 time pro bowl quarterback was traded for a 2nd and 3rd/4th

A pro bowl caliber safety was traded for a 4th and 7th

A 3 time pro bowl wide receiver and a 5th was traded for 3rd and 4th rounders

So what does this all mean? It means that anyone who anticipated to get a 3rd round pick was crazy. That includes myself. This list of players really put it into perspective for me. How I ever thought we were going to get a 3rd rounder is beyond me. A 4th rounder would still have been insane. Santonio Holmes is a much better player then Tony Scheffler. Despite Holmes being suspended for 4 games, he is a very good player. Holmes could take this suspension as a wake up call. Assume that he sticks to the program and doesn't get into any more trouble, the Jets just got a former Super Bowl MVP for the same price we just got for Tony Scheffler. Tony Scheffler is nothing special. I'm not saying he isn't good, but he isn't anything special. He is good at getting open and catching balls, but Scheffler has very little blocking ability. That is one of the reasons why Tony wasn't a big part of our team this past season.

Ted Ginn Jr was drafted 9th in the 2007 nfl draft. He may not be a stud wide receiver, but he is a dangerous kick return specialist. He has potential in this league simply for his kick returns. Tony Scheffler is a pass catching tight end. He has been and always will be a pass catching tight end. He did not fit our scheme. He was unhappy and the whole league knew it. The second we suspended Scheffler in week 17, his value dropped tremendously. Nobody was going to pay a 3rd or 4th round pick for a pass catching tight end who was suspended for his attitude. We got a very early 5th round pick for Scheffler. It is good value in my book.

We didn't have a 5th round pick this year. In a typical draft, it's not a big deal. However, in this draft, it was a big deal. 5th round players in this draft include:

Andrew Quarless, TE from Penn State

Armanti Edwards, WR from Appalachian State

Pat Angerer, ILB from Iowa

Ciron Black, G from LSU

Ted Larsen, C from North Carolina State

Marcus Easley, WR from Connecticut

Charles Scott, RB from LSU

These are all players projected to go in the 5th round. In addition to the 5th round, there are players who slide from the 4th round. Since we are at the top of the 5th, we could snag a sliding player. Some may include:

CJ Wilson, DE from East Carolina

Tony Moeaki, TE from Iowa

Arthur Jones, DT from Syracuse

Mike Johnson, OG from Alabama

Dezmon Briscoe, WR from Kansas

How would you feel if we just traded Tony Scheffler for Dezmon Briscoe? or Mike Johnson? maybe Tony Moeaki? The point is that an early 5th rounder is a good thing to have in this draft. Like McDaniels said there are going to be times when you look at the board and can't believe a players is still there. An early 5th round player gives us a good chance of picking up a sliding player.

I know a lot of people didn't like the fact that we traded a 7th away. I understand the complaint, but come on. It's a 7th round pick. If we find a player that McD wants to get in the 7th, he will surely trade up and get him. So let's not get too upset about trading away a 7th round pick. Heck New England has 5 7th rounders. Detroit has 4. New England would probably give us one of their picks for cash for crying out loud.

One of the most important things that I take out of this is that we just opened up 2 more possibilities for trade talks. When McD became a head coach, it was his responsibility to talk to teams about trades. He had no experience with that. No team had ever had a trade dialogue with him. However, he just completed a 3 way trade which is not easy to do. With experience, comes comfortability. The eagles and lions just got their first taste of trading with the Broncos. It is a very big deal especially when it comes to the Eagles. They are rumored to want to move up to the 10-12 range. Since they just completed their 1st deal with the Broncos, it's not out of the question to say they may lean towards trading with Denver then Jacksonville or Miami. 

As for my guess as to who we spend the 5th rounder on, I think it is simple. There was a player who was projected to go in the 5th round. We brought him in for a visit. I wasn't sure if McD would reach for him in the 4th or hope he fell to the 6th. Maybe we would trade and get him. However, now that we just got a 5th, I think it just assured that Armanti Edwards will be in a Bronco uniform in 2010. I for one can't wait to see what the 2 time Walter Payton award winner can do.