Quote:Were the Jaguars some branch of the federal government that just got caught in the shutdown and nobody told me?

 

I figured this trade might be a possibility, even before the team took Joeckel.

 

If the initial reports of 3rd day picks are true, initially I didn't think we got enough for him.

 

But after giving it some thought I realized a few things.

 

1)  I have never been as high on Monroe as many have been here.  It's quite possible a superior talent evaluating GM like Newsome-to say nothing of other average GMs-didn't believe Monroe was elite-thus no elite draft compensation for him.

 

2)  We got, at the highest, a 3rd round pick for Stroud.  Stroud was far better at his position than Monroe ever was at his.  Even adjusting for positional importance, a 3rd round pick would be about the highest you could realistically hope to get for Monroe, given that his level of play at his position never approached Stroud's.

 

3)  As bad as it seems, Monroe was basically the only asset on the roster with any real trade value.  MJD has too much mileage, and his injury last year and poor performance this year (which may or may not be attributable to him) wouldn't get much in return.    Marcedes Lewis will likely get even less. They wouldn't trade guys like Joeckel or Cyprien when they are the first class in this GM's tenure.

 

After having some time to think about this move, as much as I don't like trading away players at premium positions, this is once again a situation where we're moving on from a player who contributed to 7 wins in more than 2 seasons.  They got 3 players in exchange, so hopefully one or more of those guys pans out.

 

It took Monroe a while to become what many consider to be one of the better LTs in the game.  He was never dominant at his position like you'd expect a top tier player to be.  With Joeckel on the roster, there was the eventual expectation he'd assume that position.  This just accelerated the process. 

 

This is a bad team that needs a lot of help.  They've made it clear they will do the bulk of their building through the draft.  So, having more draft picks certainly helps in that regard.

 

I'm still not a fan of trading away a good young player, but as Bullseye points out above, there are only so many players on the roster who have actual trade value, and among those guys, Monroe was the one who would command the best price in exchange.  Once you get past him, there isn't a whole lot of value there.  Guys like MJD and Lewis have hurt their trade value recently due to injuries and lackluster play.  So, Monroe served a purpose for a team in the midst of a massive rebuilding effort.  It stinks, but it's understandable.  Hopefully it pans out. 

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