MMQB Review: The Most Interesting Trade Ever Edition

I am sure there is someone out there who thinks I am hard on Peter King. I don't really care, but there is a reason I am hard on Peter King. Just a month or so ago, Peter reported the "new" Redskins aren't like the old Redskins who trade away picks for players and make bad free agent signings. Just this past week in his mailbag Peter reported a talent evaluator said Sam Bradford would probably be a Washington Redskin because they want to draft him. That doesn't look like it will happen at this point. So basically in reporting on the Redskins this offseason, Peter has missed twice in just under two months. The Redskins traded a 2nd round pick in a draft that is supposed to be good and don't appear to be drafting Sam Bradford due to trading for Donovan McNabb. Though it really wouldn't shock me if they did draft Bradford too...because these ARE the same old Redskins. When it is your job to report stories, shouldn't the stories be right or shouldn't Peter at least admit he was wrong? Nah.

Again this week, even though he has had all week to write his MMQB, Peter still couldn't seem to have it up by 8:00am. Some people just write slow I guess. Either way, now Peter King says Sam Bradford is going to go #1 in the draft, because Donovan McNabb got traded to the Redskins.

This is what the most interesting trade in the NFL since Eric Dickerson to the Colts in 1987 came down to:

"Most interesting trade?" How do we even measure this? More importantly, why do I believe this is completely not true?

From Washington's perspective, Mike Shanahan looked at Donovan McNabb and saw John Elway.

Washington Redskins fans, you are going to love the Mike Shanahan era!

In 1995, Shanahan took the Denver coaching job and inherited a quarterback who couldn't win the big one, who'd gotten stale, who'd lost the faith of the locals in Denver to deliver a Super Bowl. Elway, then 35, went on to play four years for Shanahan and win two Super Bowl.

I don't dislike Donovan McNabb, but there is a difference in McNabb at 33 years old and Elway at 35 years old, beside the fact McNabb has more of an injury history. Elway had made 3 Super Bowls by the time Shanahan showed up in Denver and they were a team that couldn't get over the hump. The Redskins aren't that kind of team offensively. I don't see the parallel between that Denver team and this Redskins team.

I like the trade for both teams. I like Reid trusting himself enough and having enough guts, as Bill Belichick did with Drew Bledsoe nine years ago, to trade McNabb to a division rival

It was gutsy, but it wasn't terribly gutsy because Washington is the worst division rival the Eagles have at this point. They aren't a good team and they have some holes in that offense. It's not like McNabb has a ton to work with on offense. Haven't we heard this before in relation to McNabb?

I like Shanahan and GM Bruce Allen knowing they probably couldn't get the college quarterback of their dreams, Sam Bradford, in trade with St. Louis -- and going out and getting a 2010-ready passer who will upgrade their team drastically at the most important position on the field.

McNabb will definitely upgrade the position, but I can't help but wonder if St. Louis is really going to draft Bradford or not. Obviously I don't know much inside information and the Redskins might, but I wouldn't trade a 2nd round pick and 3rd or 4th round pick for a 33 year old quarterback based on the assumption the Rams are picking Bradford. What if Bradford is still available at #4? I don't think McNabb was getting moved from the Eagles if the Redskins hadn't traded for him, they had more time to make this trade.

I'll be surprised if Washington isn't at least four wins better this year, a .500 team.

Good coaching alone would make the Redskins 2 wins better. Look at Peter sipping on the Shanahan Kool-Aid. Remember, Peter is the guy who said the Redskins don't trade picks for players or sign big name free agents and are taking a long-term view now...which really isn't true. So he has a clear and concise history of being wrong.

Elsewhere at the top of the draft. Washington is left with one pick in the top 100 now (number four overall),

Isn't this Redskins team SO different from the other teams? Trading draft picks instead of rebuilding a team that needs an entire offensive overhaul...wait, that's the "old" Redskins team we are seeing again.

Clearly, Daniel Snyder is not sticking in his nose in Shanahan's business because he doesn't have to. They both have the same philosophy.

Allen knows he has multiple offensive line holes to fill, so teams wanting to rise in the round to have a chance at tackles Russell Okung or Bryan Bulaga (San Francisco? Seattle? Buffalo?) might be able to do business with the 'Skins at four ... Detroit (two) now loses a possible trade-down partner, but Seattle (six) will be hearing from Allen about a swap.

One pick out of the top 100 picks in a draft that looks really deep. This better be a good move for the Redskins.

The NFC East. I'd be worried about the Redskins right now. You've got Shanahan, kicked to the curb by Pat Bowlen a year ago. You've got McNabb, traded to, of all places, an arch-rival. Shanahan's marriages with talented quarterbacks have mostly worked. Elway, certainly. Jake Plummer, not so much. Jay Cutler, yes.

I am a little curious how the Plummer-Shanahan marriage didn't work in the eyes of Peter King, but the Cutler-Shanahan marriage did work. Plummer won a higher percentage of football games for Shanahan than Cutler did. Peter does realize the point of football is to win football games right? Probably not.

Albert Haynesworth's psyche. Profootballtalk.com reported this morning that Haynesworth, last year's bonus-baby prize in free-agency, was offered to the Eagles as part of the McNabb deal. There's already a chasm between Haynesworth and this coaching staff because he's not working out in the Redskins' offseason program (don't you think the least he could do making $12-million a year is work out with his mates in the program the team wants him in?), and you can be sure this news will percolate with him all off-season.

I think the only person who didn't see a Haynesworth-Redskins divide at some point this year or next year was Albert Haynesworth and the Washington Redskins. Once a turd, always a turd. Of course that means Mike Shanahan should love him. He collected turd defensive tackles in Denver.

NFL rivalries. The best before Sunday night (current, not necessarily historical) were Patriots-Colts, Packers-Vikings, Ravens-Steelers, Jets-Patriots. The Eagles-Giants, Eagles-Cowboys, Cowboys-Giants rotated in intensity. Now the Eagles and Redskins will go into that top group for the next three or four years.

I like how Peter lists the Eagles as one of the best rivalries with EVERY SINGLE OTHER TEAM IN THE NFC EAST. Focused on the Eagles and the NFC East much? I don't care if they have McNabb, I am not getting too excited about the Eagles-Redskins rivalry at this point. The idea of Larry Johnson and Donovan McNabb facing off behind a terrible offensive line against the Eagles doesn't seem exciting.

If I'm Howard Katz, the NFL schedule-maker who has a major headache putting this season's slate together, I'm going back to my drawing board this morning on Philly-Washington to make sure at least one of those two meetings is a national prime-time game.

I think the NFL should start a Peter King channel on DirectTV, where they only show the games Peter wants to see in primetime. Every week Peter gets to pick a game he wants to see and then NBC and ESPN can't choose that game for Sunday or Monday night. That way, we don't run the risk of Peter lobbying to NBC to show the entire Northeast for primetime games all year. Not that I have anything against the Northeast, but I am still not buying that the best rivalries in the NFL includes the Eagles with every other team in the division.

Oakland, Seattle, Buffalo, Cleveland, San Francisco. These are the teams with shaky veteran quarterback situations (either in talent, age or injury risk), and each has to look at the this trade and say, "If McNabb has a great second career in Washington, we blew it by not trading for him.''

I am getting this overwhelmingly feeling today that Peter King is taking idiot pills. What the hell would have McNabb done for any of these teams (minus maybe Seattle or San Francisco) if he had gotten traded there? They aren't on the brink of anything special and need draft picks more than they need a 33 year old quarterback to improve their team to 7-9.

But you trade for him, then you prove to him you'll do the right things to contend, and then you work to sign him to be your man for the next five years.

Five years? I am not going to make a bet, but I can't imagine McNabb will be a starter in the NFL at the age of 38. I just don't know about that.

I have heard the Eagles will now focus on Tebow and are likely to join the parade of teams working him out and spending time with him.

Of course they are going after Tim Tebow now. Better get him early in the 1st round because every team wants him! I hear the Browns are going to trade their entire draft choices for him and then make him the Official Liason to God.

Donte Stallworth, the 29-year-old wide receiver signed by the Ravens in February, broke a 13-month silence Thursday and told me his side of the harrowing vehicular homicide story in which he drove drunk and his car struck and killed 59-year-old Miami crane operator Mario Reyes. It's a harrowing story.

Oh yes, I would love to hear about the harrowing story of how Donte Stallworth tragically drove drunk and high killing a man who carelessly and needlessly CROSSED THE CROSSWALK AT THE WRONG SPOT! He deserved to die! Everyone knows you cross the crosswalk at the appropriate spot where the OFFICIAL crosswalk is, because that is the only spot where a drunk person who isn't paying attention to the road can't hit you.

A night that will live in infamy.

Probably because Stallworth killed someone and now seems to be gaining some sympathy. It's fine, no one cares about construction workers. Football players are way more important.

As Stallworth neared Miami Beach in moderately heavy morning traffic, he was in the far left lane of the three east-bound lanes of traffic. Coming suddenly from his far right, he said he noticed a shadow of a figure running across the right lane. He flicked his lights at the running figure twice

and in a split-second had a decision to make -- slam on his brakes and risk a chain-reaction collision; swerve hard to the left into the concrete median; swerve right, which would take him into the path of the runner; or gently hit his brakes and hope the runner stopped.

Peter is so gullible to believe this story. I am supposed to believe Stallworth didn't have time to make an appropriate decision once he saw the runner, but he had time to flick his lights twice prior to hitting Reyes? Perhaps he should have made the split second decision to hit the brakes instead of flicking the lights twice. Brakes, then lights (if necessary)...that's the order this should be done in. It's bullshit. If he has time to flick his lights twice, he should have used that time to hit his damn brakes or use that time to figure out another plan to avoid hitting someone with a car.

- slam on his brakes and risk a chain-reaction collision; swerve hard to the left into the concrete median; swerve right, which would take him into the path of the runner; or gently hit his brakes and hope the runner stopped.

Slam on the brakes and risk hurting your precious little car. That's the right answer for a millionaire in this situation. Gently hitting the brakes and hoping the guy can jump high or fun fast is not the right answer.

"But he didn't die from the impact,'' Stallworth said, somberly. "His feet got run over by my tires, and he fell, and his head hit the concrete.''

So apparently Stallworth didn't stop at all after he hit him. Or he couldn't stop fast enough after hitting him. How fast was he going?

Stallworth stopped in the left lane, put on his emergency flashers and reached into the back seat for his cell phone. While he looked out the back window and saw Reyes lying in the road,

See? It doesn't sound like he stopped for another few feet. I can't help but wonder if he hit his brakes at all or if he was going fast. I think I need a diagram and this story isn't help me get a mental diagram of the accident.

Stallworth's blood-alcohol content was .126. The Florida limit for driving while impaired is .08, so Stallworth was above the legal limit by 50 percent. He insists he did not feel impaired the night of the accident, and there's no certainty the accident would have been avoided had he been within the legal limit.

Hey, that's my excuse for drunk driving too!

"There is no one else on the road officer and I feel great. There is no certainty I would have killed someone tonight. I don't get why you pulled me over. I don't feel drunk at all!"

When I said that, the officer did not buy it somehow. Everyone knows if a driver doesn't feel drunk that means he is not legally drunk. Also, the whole "there is no certainty I would have avoided killing someone if I wasn't drunk at the time" argument falls terribly flat for me.

But there were mitigating factors, the biggest of which was that Reyes was trying to cross a well-traveled, six-lane road in poor light, and not using a crosswalk.

This is a mitigating factor, I have to admit, but I can't help but think possibly Stallworth should have paid better attention.

"I understood why people were angry about the sentence,'' said Stallworth. "I understand human psychology; I majored in psychology at Tennessee.

(Bengoodfella rolls his eyes)

Stallworth worked out harder than he had in years, and when he went to work out for the Ravens in February, he ran the fastest 40 time they'd clocked at their new training facility -- under 4.4 seconds.

He ran this fast and this is supposed to be impressive, even though the Combine is overrated (according to an "anonymous" NFL GM), and this is how they judge players at the Combine...on how fast they can run the 40 yard dash.

I am a little confused. If traffic was so bad, how did Reyes get past the other cars on the road? Was he playing "Frogger" out there or something? For me, if it is incredibly busy, Reyes either doesn't try to cross the road or can't get past the other lanes of traffic (Stallworth was in the far left lane I think), but it appears it was not busy enough for him to think he couldn't cross the road...which leads me to believe Stallworth could have hit his brakes hard and avoided a huge pile-up. Maybe I am off-base.

Last thing: A text message arrived to Stallworth's phone on the day of the accident. It read, "A lot of people know the kind of person you are. You're a good person.''

Tom Brady, his quarterback in 2007.

Tom Brady? Not THE Tom Brady? Well, my opinion on this situation has now changed completely...not only about this situation, but about life in general. Based on knowing Stallworth got support from Brady, all my opinions I have previously held are now changed.

Philadelphia. With the McNabb deal, the Eagles now have seven picks in the first four rounds, two more than any team in the league. You can be sure that the Eagles, with new GM Howie Roseman having watched Andy Reid and former GM Tom Heckert wheel and deal over the past few years, will be active on draft day. The ammo they have to deal in the first four rounds (overall picks 24, 37, 55, 70, 87, 105 and 121) will allow them to do one of the things Reid loves -- trade out of this year's draft to get a number one pick in next year's.

I agree the Eagles have a lot of picks, but Peter is making a list of the teams with the most power in this draft based on how many picks the have. That's fine, and I don't disagree, but it is what these teams do with these picks that makes the difference.

He also lists Tampa Bay and Kansas City as teams in "power positions," but they have a lot of holes in their roster they need to fill with these picks. They aren't like the Patriots who don't have a lot of positions of need and a bunch of draft picks. The Patriots have some more room for error in the draft, while the Bucs and Chiefs need these picks to work to fill holes on the team.

"In San Diego, everything was taken away from me. There wasn't an emphasis on running the ball. My best fullback [Lorenzo Neal] was gone. The linemen were pass-blocking. We had a passing coach [Norv Turner].''

-- LaDainian Tomlinson, on the plummeting production that led to him being released by the Chargers on the eve of turning 31 this summer and to signing with the New York Jets as a backup to Shonn Greene.

This is an absolutely hilarious quote. Basically, Tomlinson is complaining that he didn't play well because he didn't have everything in place to make him successful. A great running back (or a player who is still a great running back) doesn't need everything to fall in place for him to be successful. The reason the Chargers passed the ball so much is because Tomlinson was struggling, he wasn't struggling because they were passing the ball too much.

I don't remember Tomlinson throwing any ticker-tape parades for his blockers four years ago, or telling ESPN, "I owe half my success to Lorenzo Neal.'' To say it was the Chargers' fault that he's in decline ... and make no mistake, that's what Tomlinson is saying ... well, it's beneath the dignity and the greatness Tomlinson exhibited for so long.

Whoa. Peter gives an opinion that is harsh. Did Tomlinson say something nasty about Brett Favre or Bill Belichick I wasn't aware of?

For the record, Elway was 50-17 in four seasons with Shanahan.

For the record, Jake Plummer was 39-15 under Shanahan and Peter just described them as not successful together. I just thought I would add this in, because Peter said Cutler and Shanahan were successful together and they went 17-20 together.

The Washington Post asked its readers last week if they favored the Redskins moving up in the April 22 draft to acquire the draft rights to Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford. Now, in most cases, fans of teams without a certain quarterback of the future would jump at the chance to take a kid who is a legitimate franchise quarterback prospect. That's why the result of this poll surprised me. Post readers, 25,330 of them as of this weekend, were 57 percent against, 42 percent in favor.

Not that GM Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan are going to listen to the poll, but it's interesting that a solid majority of a team's fans would rather have a tackle many of them have never heard of than a quarterback who might be a longtime Pro Bowler.

Or it could be the readers of the Washington Post follow college football and know the names of the tackles that could be drafted and would rather the Redskins take a tackle, who might be a long time Pro Bowler, than take a risk on a franchise quarterback. Why does Peter write that a quarterback who is drafted by the Redskins may be a longtime Pro Bowler player? This is absolutely true for a tackle the Redskins draft as well in the 1st round.

Tweet of the Week

"I could cook spaghetti in the time it takes for one of the CBS timeouts.''

-- simandel, Stewart Mandel, college basketball writer for Sports Illustrated, at 6:51 p.m. Saturday, during Michigan State-Butler.

What, just because a 40-minute basketball game (Saturday's first game began at 6:07 Eastern and finished at 8:29) took 142 minutes?

Yet this is still significantly shorter than a baseball game. I think the Red Sox-Yankees game last night took 32 hours to play. At 8:45pm last night the game was in the bottom of the 2nd with zero outs.

2. I think if I were in Vegas, I'd put my money on the first five picks in the draft being Sam Bradford, Ndamukong Suh, Gerald McCoy, Russell Okung and Bryan Bulaga. The McNabb deal takes Jimmy Clausen out of the top five, most likely.

Now that Peter has predicted this, we can now safely assume none of these players will go in the Top 5.

4. I think the Raiders now have to look at salvaging JaMarcus Russell and getting Bruce Gradkowski healthy enough to challenge him for the job in training camp, now that McNabb is out of the picture. I see Gradkowski winning the job in camp.

There are your options Raiders fans. Would you rather have a shit sandwich or a turd burger?

5. I think I believe Shaun Rogers. I think he didn't mean to have that loaded (licensed) gun in his carry-on when he went through airport security. A stupid mistake, if you ask me.

I think Peter King is gullible. I think Shaun Rogers tried to sneak it through because he thinks he can. What kind of person forgets to take a loaded gun out of a carry-on? I don't care who you are, the fact you have a gun in your bag at an airport should never be forgotten...and I don't think a person forgets a detail like that.

7. I think Willie Parker will work the hardest of three backs in Washington (Larry Johnson and Clinton Portis being the others), but that's not going to guarantee him the starting job under Mike Shanahan.

What is it about Mike Shanahan that he just HAS to collect players other teams don't want and that used to be good? It is not that he even collects them, he collects them like 3 or 4 at a time and they all have red flags for underperforming or having bad attitudes. I am surprised he didn't try to sign Shaun Alexander and Tomlinson this offseason. Is Stephen Davis still available? If so, he should expect a call from Mike Shanahan.

8. I think I'm laughing at everyone who thinks the Chargers are taking some precipitous drop in 2010.

Who the hell are these people who think any team but the Chargers at this point are winning the AFC West? Is Peter creating fake arguments to disprove them like Jemele Hill does?

9. I think if the Seahawks have a chance, they'll be hard-pressed to pass on Bryan Bulaga. The GM, John Schneider, loves him.

Plus, he is a badass offensive tackle. That may factor into the decision to draft him also.

b. Let me lend my incompetent picks for the baseball races: American League -- New York, Minnesota, Seattle; Tampa Bay the Wild Card. National League -- Atlanta, St. Louis, Colorado; Philadelphia the Wild Card. World Series: Tampa Bay over Atlanta.

Great, Peter King picked Atlanta to win the NL East. Now they are definitely not even going even win 75 games. Seattle? That's a gutsy pick in my mind. As I said in my previews, they have little to no offense and now Cliff Lee is on the DL to start the season.

d. Don't kill me if you see me at Fenway. Just calling it the races the way I see them. I don't think the Red Sox have enough offense, and the bullpen may be weaker than the fans think. I still think it's absurd that Sox fans got sold a bill of goods on what a bad defensive player Jason Bay was last year. The team will miss that horrible glove this year, I can tell you that. David Ortiz-Adrian Beltre-J.D. Drew 5-6-7? I've got my doubts.

Of course, last night Beltre drove in two runs as the Yankees collapsed and the Red Sox won the game. As always, take what Peter says and then predict the exact opposite.

h. I'll take Duke tonight, regrettably.

They are evil. Who can like a team that has an annoying fan base that seems to be everywhere (Red Sox/Duke), has its own chants for players or the team (Red Sox- Sweet Caroline, Duke- chant sheets), players who are annoying to other teams by being alive (Red Sox- Pedroia, Duke- Laettner, Redick, etc.), and the fans have a name for themselves (Red Sox Nation/Cameron Crazies), and the fans seem so smug because they think their team is the best ever (Red Sox/Duke)? Peter King couldn't like a team like that could he?

Ok, there aren't too many parallels between Duke and the Boston Red Sox, but I don't think they are seen completely different by people that don't like either team. I think it is weird both Peter King and Bill Simmons don't like Duke, but are both Red Sox fans. Maybe they are concerned they have competition for "most smug and annoying fan base."

Who wouldn't love to see the Butler do it?

Me.

Butler can win by playing great defense beyond the three-point line, but I just don't think the Bulldogs can do it and stay out of foul trouble for 40 minutes.

Thanks for the analysis Peter. I don't know specifically what playing great defense on the perimeter has to do with foul trouble, because Butler actually has some depth among their guards so even if they did foul a lot on the perimeter it may not be a huge concern compared to fouls among the Butler big men, but still great analysis. I would think the key to the game is perimeter defense and making sure the few big guys Butler has don't get in foul trouble.

What do I know though, I predicted the championship game to be Kansas-Villanova at the beginning of the year and Kansas-Kentucky when the brackets were announced.