Suppose we dealt two 1st's for Jimmy, what precludes us from trading up into the 1st again? There is no answer to that. Nothing does.
Originally Posted by: uffda udfa
You're right, nothing does. And in no way have I insinuated you couldnt. But if we give up a first round pick and then want to move back into the first round, we have to give away the value of a first round pick. It's an opportunity cost.
Are you upset we lost picks to trade up for Clay? Who knows who they could've turned into? What stupidity.
Originally Posted by: uffda udfa
When Clay was an unknown commodity, at the time of the trade, I thought it was a risk but the expected return, especially if Clay became a premiere pass rushing talent, would more than pay off. There was also very little financial risk in that trade: it was a 5 year contract maxing out at just over $13M total. I was also giddy to get a pass rusher because that's always been my favorite role on a team.
Oh, I see what you're trying to do... you're trying to say that we could land another Clay late in the 1st round. Got it.
Originally Posted by: uffda udfa
Yes, it really is that simple. Congrats, you finally got there. Here's a gold star.
However, trading away two firsts and netting a HOF TE is not much of a gamble at all vs. the chance we won't find a Clay Matthews again late in the first.
Originally Posted by: uffda udfa
You've annointed him in to the Hall of Fame too early. If he keeps up this production for an extended career, yes he will go. But he could suffer a career ending injury, or an injury that he, while continuing to play, never fully recovers from. That happens in the NFL. Players also drop off some times. Maybe they were just looking to get paid and once they do they don't care. Some people might lose the hunger they initially had. Sometimes a player changes teams and the team chemistry or the system just don't quite click. How many marquee free agents have we seen go to another team and flop? Graham will, in all likelihood, continue on with very high production in New Orleans or elsewhere, should he move. That is not a guarantee though.
Obviously, you've ignored the link I posted. Even if you want to count Clay which you seem emboldened to do, that's 2 players since '89...I'll just drop Sharpe in '88 out of the equation. 2 guys who are as good as Jimmy Graham in the first since 1989. That's two guys in TWENTY FIVE YEARS who are better than Jimmy Graham is at his position. TWENTY FIVE YEARS but people are freaked we might lose two 1st's even when one of them is filled by landing a HOF player? So, you really only lose one 1st, in essence, if it would even cost that much.
People like hardrocker who think the resources should be allocated elsehwere, I don't really have an issue with.
Originally Posted by: uffda udfa
No, I didn't ignore it. But frankly, I'm more interested in assessing TT's performance on first rounders since he is the GM that would be presuambly using or not using these 1st round picks. 2 players in 10. 20% chance per Ted Thompson pick to get a player as good or better than Graham. That would put the odds of getting a Jimmy Graham calibre player with at least one of the two first round picks at 36% (inverse of not getting Jimmy Graham with both 1-(.8)*(.8)). There's a third, Jordy Nelson, who we used the 1st round pick to trade back and get, that's just a tier below. I'd also like to reiterate if it was not made clear, but a lot of those picks that have not panned out, or should I say have not panned out yet (let's judge Sherrod, Perry and Bulaga on how they come back), have been the victims of injuries. It's been unfortunate for us that we haven't been able to keep a first round pick healthy for the last 4 years or so. But that happens in football and that could happen to anyone we bring in, from a draft pick to Jimmy Graham.
You've also set up this false dichotomy whereby the 1st round pick has to be as good as Jimmy Graham or it isn't worth it. If you get two players that are at Jordy Nelson's level, while neither is as good as Jimmy Graham, that's much better position to be in. I wouldn't trade two Jordy Nelson's for one Jimmy Graham and that's not even close. So you work your way down and there's some value of player where you break even from having two at value x just as much as you value having one Jimmy Graham.
You then have to take into account that two first round draft picks will be on a combined annual salary of somewhere between 3-4M between the two of them and that gives you 4 years of anywhere from 6-9M additional cap space to work with relative to signing Graham to extend your own key pieces or go out and put towards a free agent at a position of need.
That's where the math, for most of us, points out to Jimmy Graham being too expensive at a top dollar contract PLUS two first round picks.
But the last line really says it all for me, that either we've failed to convey or you've failed to understand (or some combination of both) the fact that everyone who is against this is against it because we feel the resources could be allocated elsewhere to yield a higher return.
Born and bred a cheesehead