Skins Trade Snafu...

[ScottVib]

Using the tricks of the trade

Patriots picked up on Redskins' slip

By Ron Borges, Globe Staff, 3/9/2003

t pays to know the rules, but it was worth more to the Patriots that the Redskins didn't. The teams were involved in what appeared to be two trades last week but it was really only one trade and a Brink's job, with Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli pulling off a grand heist that could prove valuable next month.



Early last week, the Redskins decided to sign kick returner Chad Morton, a restricted free agent, but they needed to have proper compensation ready if the Jets elected not to match Washington's offer. Because Morton had been given the low tender offer by the Jets, it meant the Redskins had to have a fifth-round draft choice, because that was the round Morton was drafted in (by New Orleans in 2000).

The problem was, Washington had already unloaded its fifth-round pick, so it had to acquire one that was equal to or better than the original pick, which was ninth in the round. The Redskins looked for teams with multiple picks in the fifth round, and settled on New England, because it not only had two such picks but also would be more than happy to help someone outside its division hurt the Jets.

Morton was the second-leading kick returner in the NFL last year and is a force to be reckoned with -- but not by New England if he's playing for Washington. So the Patriots agreed to swap their fifth-round choice for a seventh rounder this year and the Redskins' fourth-round pick next season. What Washington didn't realize was that the Patriots' fifth-round pick was below Morton's original slot and thus could not be used as compensation for the Jets.

Redskins owner Dan Snyder again proved he's not as smart as he thinks he is. The deal was trumpeted by the team on its website in an attempt to scoop the Washington media Snyder so detests, but not long after that announcement, the league informed Snyder that his team still didn't have the required compensation, so the five-year, $8 million offer sheet was not acceptable. Washington called back to ''remind'' the Patriots the deal had been for the fifth-round pick New England got from Dallas -- which was higher than the ninth pick in that round. Thinking quickly, the Patriots said in effect, ''I'm afraid not.''

Pioli and Belichick said they had agreed to trade their own pick, and that no one ever discussed unloading the higher selection. In the end, Washington agreed to swap places with the Patriots in the third round, allowing the Patriots to move up six places, plus hand over its fourth-round selection next year in exchange for that fifth-round pick that came from Dallas. The seventh-round choice was long forgotten.

Now the Jets have until Thursday to decide whether they will match the offer, and team officials did not believe the cost would be prohibitive.

If the Jets do retain Morton, Washington would end up moving down six slots in the third round and giving up a fourth-round choice next year for a fifth-round choice of questionable value.

''The Redskins didn't know the rules or they didn't know where the Patriots were drafting in the round,'' one NFL general manager said. ''That's obvious. It's pretty funny -- when it doesn't happen to you.''


This was in today's Boston Globe... I thought it was interesting.

[damnMikeBrown]

I love when things like this happen. I love it even more that it happened to Snyder. Only thing that would be better, is if it happened to Jerry Jones.

The Reds did something like this in the early 90's with, I think, Reggie Jefferson. Clevland got him for something like $5,000. Eric Davis actually went public, mocking the team for doing it.