(04-22-2022, 11:08 AM)Talented Kalamari Wrote:

(04-22-2022, 04:45 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: I am very leery of trading premium draft picks for a player you then have to sign to a huge new contract.  That's like paying twice for one player.

Everyone on this board always says that. Draft picks are a crap shoot. It’s better to get proven players. The Rams have proven that. Why hold on so dearly to these picks when we don’t know how to draft anyways?

That's just it...they don't always say that.

Many people believe "picks not players."  The problem with that approach is you are not aggressive in making your team better, availabe players could go elsewhere, and the picks you get when you trade away star players don't translate into star players.  (See Jalen Ramsey trade).

The problem with your approach, as expressed above, is like the potential draftees you would take with those picks, the trade target would have to be worth it.  History is replete with trades for veteran players that didn't work out.

Way back, some 45 or so years ago, Seattle traded their top pick (which was I think 2nd overall in the draft) to Dallas for a bunch of established veteran players.  Dallas wound up frafting Tony Dorsett, who wound up a Hall of Fame RB.

More recently, the Bills traded a 1st round pick and a 4th round pick for Jaguars' QB Rob Johnson.  He was a complete washout for the Bills.  With those picks, the Jaguars landed RB Fred Taylor and RB Tavian Banks (an earlier version of Travis Etienne).

Just last year, the Colts traded a 1 and a 3 for Carson Wentz.  He lasted all of one season in Indy beore his meltdown in the last week of the season.  The Colts wound up trading him away this year for a fraction of what it cost to get him.

My philosophy is somewhere in between the Rams extreme and the Kethmanist approach.  Don't be afraid to make a trade for a veteran player that can help your team, but don't get crazy with it and get it right.

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