Unless you're living under a rock, you know the Redskins engineered a trade for the Rams' #2 overall pick in the draft and in doing so, pulled off the coup of all coups this offseason. It's not often that happens before we hit free agency but already the city and the sports world alike are abuzz. (I know this because my future brother in law fired off a giddy 4AM text.)
Now It could've been the rumor that Peyton Manning wasn't interested in coming to DC. It could've been Cleveland's posturing towards a potential trade with St. Louis. I don't know what spurred the Redskins to action. Whatever it was, I don't care. To quote my brother (who I think was quoting George W Bush), "ladies and gentlemen, we got him." The Redskins pulled the trigger on a blockbuster trade aimed at answering their quarterbacking woes for the next decade. And unless videos surface of Andrew Luck injecting small kids with heroin, the Colts will take him at 1, leaving the Redskins poised to take Baylor QB and Heisman trophy winner, Robert Griffin III. Make no mistake about it, this was the move.
Yes, the price was steep but keep in mind this is the first trade of picks with the new collective bargaining agreement in place. Under the new CBA and the rookie wage scale, top draft picks are worth now more than ever before. Under the old system it would've been easy to write this deal off based on sticker shock alone. But this is a whole new ball game. Griffin makes this an easy deal to assess if he pans out. But make no mistake, this will not be the last trade of its kind.
And for the record, the hysteria about this trade costing the Redskins three first rounders is absurd. Let's be clear: This is a swap of first rounders this year. The actual cost to the Redskins? Two future firsts and a second this year. That's still a lot, and it may be semantics but it gives this deal a little better perspective. Again, it's easy to go nuts with the headline stuff but digging a little deeper makes us all a little smarter in the end.
I guess it's pretty obvious where I fall on this trade. But for years the Redskins have squandered both money and draft picks on a litany of ill-advised deals, mostly aimed at winning short term battles. For once it seems the brain trust in Ashburn made a move to win the war.
