Ladies and gentlemen, the toughest division in football just got tougher. As I’m sure you know by now, there have been two key trades involving all-pro players and the NFC East in the last few days.
The first one occurred on Sunday when the Washington Redskins acquired defensive end Jason Taylor from the Dolphins in exchange for a 2009 second round pick and a 2010 sixth round pick. A day later, the New York Giants decided to trade tight end Jeremy Shockey to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for 2009 second and fifth round picks.
The interesting thing about these two trades happening so close to each other is that the Giants, Dolphins, and Saints were in three-way discussions in which Jeremy Shockey would have gone to New Orleans, Jason Taylor would have gone to the New York Giants, and draft picks would have gone to the Dolphins.
The trade talks were ongoing, but as soon as the Redskins lost two DEs to injury on the first day of training camp, they finalized a deal with the Miami Dolphins.
At first, on paper, the Shockey deal has to be upsetting to most Giants fans. A lot of us found ourselves wondering why we should trade him now when we could have done it before the draft for probably the same deal. Well, the Giants did not know how much of a problem the Jeremy Shockey situation was going to be at that time.
In the recent weeks it started to become clearer that Shockey was really upset and wanted out. The Giants decided trading him was the best way to go and I agree, having a clubhouse cancer would have been an awful idea, especially the year after a Super Bowl win.
Now, while this deal doesn’t necessarily help us on the field at this point in time, (we’ll see who the draft picks end up being down the road and I’m sure they’ll be compared to Shockey for years to come), it makes us a more united team which is one of the main reasons we won the Super Bowl last year.
So how does this all affect the NFC East next season? Well the Giants have pretty much the same offensive unit they had through the playoffs last year, which sounds like a very good thing, doesn’t it?
The Redskins' move does not scare me that much to be honest. Jason Taylor will see a lot of double teams as the Redskins still have a weak defensive line as a unit. I still believe they will be at the bottom of the NFC East this year.
So yes, the Giants got worse on paper and the Redskins got better while the NFC East got tougher. That just means great football all season long, and you have to love that.
Interesting Note on Shockey Trade
As Ralph Vacchiano originally reported on The Blue Screen, the Giants have a shot at getting a 2010 first round pick from the Saints instead of the 2009 second rounder.
If Jonathan Vilma plays 85 percent of the team's defensive plays and signs a contract extension during the season, (he’s going into the last year of his rookie contract), they would owe their 2009 second rounder to the New York Jets and then would have to give their 2010 first rounder to the Giants.
The situation is highly unlikely but it's something to keep an eye on.
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28 days ago
How much you want to bet that Vilma plays 84.9 percent of the time for New Orleans this year?
I'm not concerned in the least about Taylor and I'm glad the Skins gave up the draft choices for him and not the Giants. Washington has a history of being where old free agents go to die anyway.
The Shockey situation is a sad one -- so many expectations, so much potential and yet here we are trading him away after six years. I agree he had to go, but it would have been a lot nicer to have him back with his head screwed on straight instead. But that clearly wasn't happening. I do however love the idea of Jerry Reese with two extra picks next year. They could probably makes those picks part of a package to move up for another first rounder if they through someone was worth it.
28 days ago
BTW, you didn't mention the salary cap implications. The Giants cleared several million while the Skins picked up Taylor at 6 mil per year.
28 days ago
I would like to see the giants trade those picks for a mid to late 1st round pick, but it all depends on what their needs are, and whose still on the bard at that time
28 days ago
Jason Taylor on his own, I agree with you, would see a lot of double teams. Much the same way Andre Carter saw a lot of double teams last year.
Jason Taylor on one side, with Andre Carter on the other should improve both players as teams have to chose whom to double team or sacrifice a tight-end for pass-protection.
Taylor and Carter may not be Umenyiora and Strahan, but the scenario they present to offensive coordinators is very similar.
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