Trade wins

By Eric Wilbur

October 19, 2009

4 minutes to read

Perhaps the only item of interest lost in the Laurence Maroney shuffle of yesterday’s 59-0 shellacking of the Tennessee Titans was that Patriots running back Sammy Morris went down with a knee injury and did not return.

Of course, there’s no word on how serious the injury was, and it’s not like Morris was going to return to that disaster on the field anyway. But the NFL trading deadline does happen to be tomorrow, you know, which has some folks proposing some fun ideas. Tops on that list: Mike Florio’s suggestion that the St. Louis Rams (maybe the only reason we can’t call the Titans the worst team in football) ship running back Steven Jackson to New England.

Steven Jackson, at 26 years old and in his sixth NFL season, is in the throes of pro football middle age. Given his hard-nosed running style, he’s only got a few more years left before the L.T.-style decline begins.
With the Rams more than a few years away from contending, Jackson will be used up before they’re ready to make a move up the standings.
So why not get what they can now for Jackson?
Though most contenders have guys who can move the chains, the Packers could really use him. With Fred Taylor possibly out for the year in New England, Jackson would look good in silver and blue, too.

You can probably quit the drooling before you begin, because the odds of that deal happening are about as likely as an October snowstorm in Foxborough…er, I mean the Rams actually winning a game against a quality opponent before December. If the St. Louis franchise were to trade its franchise player, what earthly excuse would the paying public have to go to a game? I mean besides the St. Louis fans who inevitably would remain rah-rah in all their Midwestern charm?
The Rams are scoring an embarrassing nine points per game this season, the worst weekly output in the NFL. Besides, dealing Jackson would reportedly bear an instant cap hit of around $5 million. Not going to happen.
More than likely, the Patriots will stick with their running back stable of Maroney and BenJarvis Green-Ellis, who both had nice afternoons yesterday, albeit against a pathetic defense. But you’d better believe that Bill Belichick is looking over Morris’ injury report today, particularly with a November stretch that includes the Dolphins, Colts, Jets, and Saints on the schedule. The Redskins are a mess. Might they think of trading Clinton Portis? Can Belichick open up the Oakland trade hotline and steal Justin Fargas?
Normally, the NFL trading deadline is about as exciting a day as the NFL players’ association tax deadline day, but as Jay Glazer reports, there certainly seems to be a lot more chatter this year. Terrell Owens could find his way out of Buffalo before any of us even knew he was there. Brady Quinn could stink elsewhere. Linebacker Shawne Merriman could add a new sack dance to his repertoire.
On that last note, ESPN’s Adam Schefter opines that Foxborough would be a nice landing spot:

Merriman’s performance has leveled off recently and New England, awash in draft picks the next two years, could afford to surrender one for a defensive playmaker. Some might think Merriman is worth a first-round pick, but he is in the last year of his contract and San Diego would be happy to unload him.

There’s no way Belichick would part with a first-round pick midseason even for a player of Merriman’s stature. Besides, could you imagine San Diego’s defense without their top linebacker? Egads. Only the Titans have allowed more points per game than the Chargers, who, remember, were “supposed” to run away with the AFC West, where they find themselves three wins behind the 5-0 Broncos with tonight’s showdown on tap. This one’s intriguing, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for anyone involved.
Too bad Carolina won yesterday, otherwise a 1-4 start might have prompted them to see what New England might surrender for Julius Peppers, who looked good in yesterday’s victory over Tampa Bay (seven tackles, two sacks). Caulton Tudor of the Charlotte News-Observer wrote yesterday that “a failure to trade Peppers would be like under-cooking one chicken leg because you over-cooked the other. One misstep can be rationalized. The other can’t.” Tudor wins the day for worst food analogy, but his point stands. I think.
Joey Galloway to Baltimore? So said the NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi yesterday, but Galloway could just as easily be released, particularly if Deion Branch lands himself back on Route One. The Pats’ need for a third wide receiver is evident, particularly with the struggles of Galloway, who probably won’t be invited over to Tom Brady’s for a family dinner anytime soon. Julian Edelman has been a nice surprise, but really, if it weren’t for the jersey you’d have a hard time picking him and Wes Welker apart. Of all positions to make a midseason deal for, wide receiver might be the most difficult in that the player has days – not weeks – to learn the game plan, something Belichick spoke about last week.
“At this point in time, we’ve had over half the practices for the entire year because of the number we have in training camp and in preseason,’’ he said. “[To] bring in a player now and teach him your system is tough because even if he learns it on paper or in a playbook and is actually going out there and doing it, [there are] limited opportunities, so you trade for a guy and by the time you get him ready to go, the season is over.”
Then again, Branch has been here and knows the system, which is why this one might actually have some legs.
Remember, Roy Williams going to Dallas was about the only high-profile deal made last season at the deadline, and his ineffectiveness down the stretch proved why more trades aren’t made in the NFL midseason. Still, it’ll be fun to dream about Jackson lining up in the Patriots backfield for the next 24 hours or so.