Veteran players overvalued by fans.

[Albany,n.y.]

Look at the trades in the last few days. Darius, because of his contract, only is worth a 6th. Benjamin, a former 1st rounder only gets a 3rd & 7th. Other trades: Garoppolo, because of pending free agency only gets the Pats a 2nd. Ajayi a 4th. Going back to pre-season Sammy wasn't worth any more than the Bills got because he'll be a UFA after this season.

The truth is that nobody stole any of these players. Due to their contract status, perceived attitudes etc, the team that traded them got maximum value.

Considering some of the overinflated ideas of players' values on many of the posted proposed trades, the last few days trades as well as others this season are a good dose of reality for all of us. I'm as guilty as anyone else in overinflating players' values, so this is not meant to flame anyone. However, the next time you feel that the Bills made a horrible trade think twice before getting on Beane's case.

On the other hand, if he ever makes as bad a deal as Whaley did when he traded for Sammy Watkins, feel free to get the tar & feathers out for Beane.

[Pinkerton Security]

The only one you mentioned I think anyone might even remotely consider a "steal" is Ajayi for a 4th - so i dont really get your point TBH.

We should basically thrilled that someone took on Dareus' contract if people think we should have gotten more for him.

[Cali512]

Dareus contract was like when the Texans traded brock. It's purely money, nothing more

[sahlensguy]

And I think draft pics are overvalued by fans.

I understand the value of building good teams on cheap contracts, but future draft picks are always about the future. And the further out they go the less value they have. A first next year is worth more than a first the following year. At some point you need to turn that asset into players who play.

A third and a seventh is a low risk trade for a guy like KB.

[Albany,n.y.]

The only one you mentioned I think anyone might even remotely consider a "steal" is Ajayi for a 4th - so i dont really get your point TBH.

We should basically thrilled that someone took on Dareus' contract if people think we should have gotten more for him.

My point is that throughout the year we see proposed trades where someone thinks we should get a 1 or 2 for one of our players when in reality he's worth nothing near that. Same point in reverse. I really thought Garoppolo was going to get the Pats a 1st & I wanted the Bills to send NE a 1st for him last offseason.

We see overrating players values on this board & others every time someone dreams up a trade. Players almost always yield less than expected in trades. Some people around here went crazy when Sammy Watkins (and a late pick), on the last year of his contract, ONLY got us Gaines & a #2. I've seen some posts elsewhere that have the premise that Beane keeps getting beat up on trades when the OP has no true idea of what the players' values are.

[The Beef]

Players making money or due big extensions are like driving a car off the lot, the value depriciates fairly quickly.

There's so many moving parts on teams year to year you rarely see a name player moved for what seems like fair value, and when it happens it's almost always an overpay.

Joey Galloway for 2 firsts. Robo J for a 1st and a 4th.

Brandin Cooks for a first was probably an overpay.

It's another reason while trading a bunch of picks to move up and grab a player is almost never worth it unless it's for a QB. Julio Jones is one of the lone exceptions to draft day trades being worth the price.

[Arm of Harm]

In the past I think teams valued players more than draft picks. You take the Herschel Walker deal for example. The Vikings thought they were trading some of their players for Herschel Walker. But the trade was conditional: if the veterans the Vikings were trading away failed to make the Cowboys' roster, the Cowboys would get draft picks instead. It soon became clear that the Cowboys wanted the draft picks, not the Vikings' veteran players. That trade became acknowledged as the most one-sided trade in NFL history. And I think it changed the NFL's culture, to where GMs increased the value they placed on draft picks while decreasing the value they put on veteran players.

You could argue that now, the pendulum has swung the other way. Teams are probably over-valuing their draft choices, under-valuing veterans. The Benjamin trade is probably a good example of that. The Bills appear to have gotten a significantly better football player than a typical WR taken in the 3rd round. Benjamin is a young player, so most of the tread is still on his tires.

[Mouldsie]

I think these days vets are undervalued. Example off the top of my head: Brandon Marshall was traded for a 4th round pick then put up 1500 yards.... twice.

GM's crave rookie contracts but the player sometimes isn't that good until year 2-3 of his 4 year deal, if he makes the team of course.

[jimmifli]

Getting starters on rookie deals is what allows you to pay superstars on their second contract. Nobody can afford to pay non superstars superstar money, but it's a common mistake (not fatal if you don't have a QB).

So that's what a draft pick is, a chance to find a starter for cheap - hopefully for four years.

[Mouldsie]

On a similar level, a nice thing about trading for a vet is that you don't have to pay his bonus money