Why Braylon Edwards' Value Grew Exponentially on Wednesday

The biggest storyline of the day was "Edwards has been traded to the Jets", The question now is "so what?".

Rex Ryan has been looking for an elite receiver to compliment Jerricho Cotchery, He looked heavily into Broncos Pro-bowl WR Brandon Marshall but wasn't willing to give up all-everything linebacker David Harris.

There were then rumors and eventually charges filed by the San Francisco 49ers of tampering with (then holdout) WR Michael Crabtree. But it wasn't until October 7th that Rex Ryan finally found the wide receiver he was looking for.

Braylon Edwards was just coming off one of the worst games he's played, his 62 game streak with at least one catch was snapped. Not to mention later that night he was allegedly involved in an altercation (I wont go into that and please do not comment on it as not all the details have been released). Needless to say the Browns were more willing to trade away their Pro-Bowl wide receiver. 

The two teams agreed to a trade in which the Browns would receive WR Chansi Stuckey, ST/LB Jason Trusnik, a fifth round draft pick, and a second/third round draft pick (depending on how well Edwards plays this year) in exchange for their playmaker at WR.

Why this was a good trade for the Jets

Despite the beliefs of many Browns fans, Braylon Edwards is still an elite receiver. However in 2008 the browns suffered a relapse, no one had a terrific season, least of all Edwards. He's attributed this to a lack of focus on his own part, and has been on the right track thus far this year.

Cleveland however, has been looking to trade him since the draft (as evidenced by them drafting Massaquoi and Robiske) and Monday morning's incident was the last straw. After all this the value the Browns saw in Edwards was greatly decreased, thus he went for far less than he probably should've.

In 2007 the Patriots traded a mere fourth round draft pick for Randy Moss, who helped lead New England to an undefeated regular season. What are the similarities between these trades?

1. Quarterback - New England had an established QB in Tom Brady, Oakland had an underwhelming QB in Aaron Brooks...While Mark Sanchez is not by any means an established QB, he is at least the Jets only starter at QB, not to mention he is out performing both Quinn and Anderson.

2. Playmakers - Oakland had very few playmakers aside from Randy Moss, Where as the Patriots were far more developed, and looking for a Wide-out who could "stretch the field."

Similarly Cleveland is lacking as far as playmakers go causing defenses to realize that if you take Braylon Edwards out of the game, you take Cleveland out of the game, whereas New York already has an establish WR in Jerricho Cotchery, and an outstanding RB in Thomas Jones, and were looking for a Wide-out who could "stretch the field," a playmaker whose ability is respected by opposing defenses.

3. Ability to Win - Oakland had just come off a 2-14 season and clearly had no reason to expect much better from 2007, The Patriots however were a much more respectable 12-4. I know the Jets went 9-7 last year, but this year they sitting pretty at 3-1, while the Browns (coming off a 4-12 season) are 0-4. The Jets have shown that they can compete with most of the league.

Now that Edwards is in New York, and has a QB who can produce, not to mention multiple playmakers, it should help open up the run game for Jones even more, not to mention give Rex Ryan the "field-stretcher" he's been looking for.

Why this was a good trade for the Browns

Despite a pro-bowl season in 07' Edwards wasn't a good fit in Cleveland. Derrek Anderson is a good but not great QB, and Quinn has proven to be well, a flop thus far. Anyone would've become frustrated with their own team especially after they traded away their play-making TE Winslow.

But don't worry here is the good news; The Browns have been searching for Edwards' replacement since the beginning of the offseason, and drafted two excellent WRs in Massaquoi and Robiske.

Not to mention they've added much needed defensive depth through this trade and got a good WR out of it too. If I were a Browns fan I'd be rooting for Edwards to have a great year too, because then that extra third round draft pick becomes a second rounder.

Prediciton

While he has more than likely turned a corner in his career, I wouldn't expect Edwards to have a pro-bowl season this year, but with a more stable situation in New York he might just return to his old 2007 self. The Jets probably won't win the AFC this year, but they will be serious contenders both now and in the future. But hey don't just take my word for it, ask nearly any NFL analyst on ESPN.