Redskins may find takers if they opt to draft down
By: Turner Sports Desk
A lot of teams see drafting in the top 5 as more of a curse
than a blessing. For one you are pressured to take players projected to be of a
certain value. The other problem is teams normally drafting that high are there
for a reason. They have so many holes that this one pick is the equivalent of
using bubble gum to patch the hole in the Titanic. The teams with these high
picks would love to trade down and gather more picks but you must have a trade
partner desperate enough to want to mortgage part of their future in the form
of draft picks or players in order to move up. That said, the Washington Redskins have some
options this year in the form of potential trade down partners.
The Seattle Seahawks 6th Pick – Pete Carroll has an aging and busted Matt Hasselbeck and the combat ineffective Seneca Wallace as his top two choices at QB. Yes Seattle will be in the hunt for an impact QB and other pieces of the puzzle. Seattle also has a pretty good defense when healthy so they are in a good position to right the ship with an impact player.
The Cleveland Browns 7th
pick – The Browns thought they had a franchise QB in Brady Quinn. Maybe
they still believe but my gut tells me they don’t. It will be interesting to
see what the Browns do this off season in terms of QBs. Don’t be surprised to
see Cleveland trade for Matt Hasselbeck since he has pretty much worn out his
welcome in Seattle.
The Oakland Raiders 8th
Pick – How do you spell bust? JaMarcus
Russell is how. They either need to bring in a coach that can squeeze water out
of that stone or start over with someone else.
The hard part here is getting crazy Al to admit he screwed the pooch on
Russell. The Raiders may still be looking for a coach by draft time so you just
never know. The Raiders have a ton of talent and a good QB/strong coach can
turn this team around pretty quick.
The Buffalo Bills 9th
Pick – The Bills have a couple of decent guys at QB but no one to hang
their hats on. They do have 2nd year player Brian Brohm on a roster
with a bunch of guys that are not impressive. Now that the Jets are better and
challenging in that division along with the Pats they need to make a move in
order to stay competitive. Buffalo has a
pretty good defense but they could use a QB and some more play makers.
The Jacksonville Jaguars
10th Pick – It seemed that if not for a monster contract Jack Del Rio would
have been canned. The Jacksonville owner spoke of drafting Florida standout Tim
Tebow just to put more butts in seats. David Garrard is solid but unspectacular
so the Jaguars could definitely be in the market for anyone that will put more Fannies
in seats. If the Jaguars are not trying to tank for the sole purpose of a move
to Los Angeles then look for them to move up in order to get an impact player.
They stand a much better chance of doing that at 4 than 10.
The Minnesota Vikings
30th Pick – The Vikings make a very interesting potential trade
partner because win or lose they are going to need a quality QB with Favre’s status
questionable. Of course the Vikings are rumored to be
interested in Donovan McNabb should he finally get the boot in Philly despite
what Andy Reid says. No doubt Childress would want a veteran QB but if they don’t
get McNabb they will need someone that Minnesota fans will be comfy with.
Both Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan need to
be good salesmen in order to pull it off but the Redskins do have potential
trade down partners. If the Skins do this right they could still get a good
player in the top ten and pick up some much needed picks in later rounds or even high picks next season. Everyone’s interpretation of a good deal varies according to their own particular needs so the Skins need to be asking around. You just never know..