Reggie Bush and 7 Past-Their-Prime Veterans Who Will Get Dealt Before Week 1
The NFL provides a surplus of entertainment regardless of the time of year.
The season provides the actual football, which is what it's all about, and even the offseason amuses us with the draft, free-agency and especially highly anticipated trades.
There are occasions when it's obvious that a player will be traded. The destination is rarely certain, but some organizations make their intentions well known.
It's not always an easy thing to predict, as there have certainly been surprise trades in the past.
So, regardless of whether these seven players are obvious or unexpected candidates, it's certainly possible that they'll find themselves on a new roster in 2011.
Steve Smith (Wide Receiver, Carolina Panthers)
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It’s hard to tell if the 32-year-old Steve Smith has slowed down that much, or if the Carolina Panthers just got that bad.
Smith was putting up elite stats for a receiver as recently as 2008, when he had 1,421 receiving yards. His receiving yardage dropped to a respectable 982 in 2009, but he regressed to only 554 yards in 2010.
News has circulated that he wants out, but he hasn’t demanded that the Panthers trade him per se, although he did request that he be put in a winning situation, which is clearly not in Carolina.
The Panthers may want Smith around to give pointers to their new quarterback Cam Newton, who they drafted with the No. 1 overall pick last April.
But even if they don’t trade Smith, then they can’t force him to play hard for the team, and they certainly can’t force him to be a teacher for Newton.
Smith clearly wants out. It could be harmful to potentially contaminate their young quarterback with a half-hearted veteran leader, which could be the case if they choose to retain Smith against his will.
They’d be better off trading him for draft picks, as they are in a total rebuild mode anyway.
Vince Young (Quarterback, Tennessee Titans)
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Vince Young is still a youngster, but he’s probably past his prime.
His prime consisted of a somewhat promising rookie campaign that flashed some potential, but the rest of his career has been mostly pure disappointment.
Tennessee Titans’ owner Bud Adams publicly announced that Young will not be a part of the 2011 roster, so it’s obvious enough that Young will be with another team before week one.
It’s unlikely that he’ll be traded, as teams are certain that he’ll be cut. There’s no point in giving up a draft pick when you can wait and sign him with no strings attached after he’s cut.
But it’s possible that a quarterback-desperate team will offer a late-round pick for Young’s services, as they might not want to risk losing him to another interested team.
How the departure of Young will play out remains to be seen, but the only certainty is that he will not be a Titan in 2011.
The team already invested the No.8 overall pick in the 2011 draft for his replacement—Jake Locker.
Albert Haynesworth (Defensive Tackle, Washington Redskins)
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Albert Haynesworth is dealing with a sexual abuse lawsuit this offseason.
He is also lazy and constantly out of shape, and his overall character is just flat out alarming (to say the least). It’s hard to picture him as a fan favorite in Washington.
Then there’s his contact. His contract is… well… outrageous. But the word “outrageous” does not justly describe the atrocity known as Albert Haynesworth’s contract.
Daniel Snyder is widely known as someone that stupidly overpays players, but the Haynesworth contract is proof that he needs to take a role that is much less involved.
It’s hard to justify offering someone a $100 million contract when that person isn’t even committed enough to stay in shape.
The Redskins might cut him, trade him or maybe even attempt to restructure his contract (yeah, right). But the bottom line is that the Redskins don’t really want the guy.
He’s demanding too much money, he’s a locker room cancer and he’s not a good fit for a 3-4 style defense.
There may be a dimwitted General Manager out there—whose team runs a 4-3 defense—that might be willing to take a chance on Haynesworth. After all, regardless of his off-field issues, he’s still a very capable defensive tackle if he’s in the right system.
But overall, he’s probably past his prime. We’re not going to see the same dominate Haynesworth we saw in Tennessee ever again.
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Kyle Orton (Quarterback, Denver Broncos)
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Kyle Orton is past his prime in the sense that he’s hit his peak.
He may continue to play at the same level for a few more years, but he won’t improve.
It’s also possible that his numbers were the result of Josh McDaniel’s high octane offense—and since McDaniels was fired, it’s possible that Orton will never hit those kinds of numbers again.
Trading Orton to a quarterback-desperate team would be smart if the Broncos feel that Orton is in fact playing above his head.
He would be at his maximum value right now, given that the last two seasons were the best of his career (2009: 3,802 yards, 21 TD, 12 INT; 2010: 3,653 yards, 20 TD, 9 INT).
However, if the Broncos feel that Orton can continue to play at a fairly high level, then he would probably be a safer pick over the second year player Tim Tebow, who would be the alternative.
McDaniels is the guy that drafted Tebow, and he’s now gone. So everything depends on the new regime’s opinion of the young quarterback.
A new front office typically means a new quarterback, but there’s no guarantee that they feel the same way about Tebow as McDaniels did.
Tebow started the final three games of the 2010 season. During those three games combined, he put up 651 passing yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. He also rushed for 199 yards and three touchdowns in those games.
If the Broncos feel they can build a franchise around Tebow, then they’ll be more comfortable cashing in Orton for some draft picks.
They could certainly use the picks, as the team is working towards rebuilding their roster.
At the very least, it’s something to keep an eye on.
Carson Palmer (Quarterback, Cincinnati Bengals)
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It’s going to be tough for Carson Palmer to return to the Bengals after his “trade me or else” comments.
If you demand a trade and threaten to retire if you don’t get one, then you don’t return to smiles and open arms in the locker room. He’s as good as gone.
The Bengals just drafted A.J. Green in the first round of the 2011 draft, and he is expected to be the next elite receiver in the NFL. That could be enough to make Palmer interested in a return, but not likely.
The team will most likely try to get something out of Palmer through a trade. They won’t risk letting him retire, which would leave them with nothing.
They’ll field some offers, pick the best one and then send him packing.
Of course, this all assumes that he’s not bluffing.
Osi Umenyiora (Defensive End, New York Giants)
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Yes, this is an unlikely scenario based solely on speculation, as Osi Umenyiora will probably remain with the New York Giants.
Their defense relies heavily on defensive ends, and Umenyiora just enjoyed a successful 11.5 sack season.
But let’s not forget Umenyiora’s well publicized displeasure with the organization during the 2009 season. He was disappointed that he was benched for several games, but his main concern is that he feels underpaid.
He still has not received a new contract.
A much cheaper option would be to retain Mathias Kiwanuka, who is set to become a free-agent, and stick with Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul as the starters.
The Giants are probably willing to put up with Osi and possibly offer him a new contract, rather than settle for the less productive and injury prone Kiwanuka.
However, the 29-year-old Umenyiora (due to turn 30 in November) does not have a lot of golden years ahead of him.
The team already has a solid group at defensive end, and the Giants may find themselves willing to deal a disgruntled player that is costing them a lot of dough.
Reggie Bush (Running Back, New Orleans Saints)
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The Saints made it abundantly clear on the first day of the draft that they view Reggie Bush as an expendable asset.
They did so by trading back into the first round to select running back Mark Ingram with the No.28 overall selection last April.
Shortly after the pick was announced, Bush responded through Twitter by simply stating “It’s been fun New Orleans”. So the feeling is clearly mutual.
New Orleans has a crowded backfield with Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory, Mark Ingram and even Julius Jones. That crew is more than capable of executing the run game at a high level.
Bush will be released, or possibly traded. And it’s really not surprising that New Orleans is willing to drop him.
He is a complete bust as a No. 2 overall pick, and he still hasn't figured out that he‘s out of college, and that his college career will not send him to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
He will make a solid addition to any team as a third down running back, as long as he is mentally prepared to accept a back-up position. But asking him to do that could pose a problem.
He’s not necessarily a player that’s past his prime, but we have likely seen his peak already. He’ll be able to perform at that same level if he’s healthy, but he’s not getting any better.
His true prime was in college, and he’s way past that.
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