LifetimeBillsFan
07-17-2005, 05:57 AM
While it is possible that T.Donahoe and the Bills could have held onto T.Henry for a couple of more weeks until after training camps opened in an effort to get more than the third round pick that they got from the Titans, the more I have been thinking about the deal, the more I have come to believe that the Bills got just about the best deal that they could for T.Henry.
Some may argue that the Bills could have gotten more for T.Henry last season when Miami was willing to give up a third round pick for a RB like L.Gordon, who doesn't even compare to T.Henry. But, in my view, the Bills did the right thing in holding onto T.Henry because they didn't know for sure that W.McGahee would play as well as he did (they may have thought that he would, but they didn't know that he would) or that T.Henry would play as poorly and as little as he ultimately did. Also, the best offer for T.Henry probably would have come from Miami and, for all of his shortcomings, you have to believe that Henry would have played well for Miami and saved his best for games against the Bills if he had been traded there.
Some may argue that the Bills should have traded T.Henry for L.Shelton when Arizona offered the Bills that deal. While that deal would have given the Bills an experienced, former first round draft pick to replace J.Jennings at LT, having watched Shelton's father play for the Knicks and read reports that, like his father, Shelton was a physically talented, but lackadaisical player, I was never sure that Shelton would really be the answer for the Bills at LT. I did not feel that the Arizona offer was worth it unless they were willing to swap places with the Bills in the second round of this past year's draft--which they were not. While Shelton is an experienced LT and he may or may not be better than Gandy, I'm not sure that he would have been a better option than S.Gragg, let alone R.Verba. While there was no way of knowing that Verba would be available at the time, I think a straight up deal of T.Henry for L.Shelton would not have been a particularly good one for the Bills.
Now, some might argue that the Bills could have and should have gotten a third round pick for T.Henry before or during the draft. However, all the reports that I have read suggest that no team offered the Bills anywhere near that high of a draft pick for T.Henry. While there were rumors about what was or wasn't being offered, the only solid offer that it was reported that the Bills definitely got was for a late round pick from Philly. Since TD said that he wasn't going to take less than a third round pick and took one when it was offered, I have to conclude that it lends credibility to his claim that he was not offered one during or before this year's draft. Moreover, while this deal doesn't offer the Bills immediate help right now, this past year's draft was acknowledged to be a weak one, while next year's draft is supposed to be better and, if the NFL.com rankings of players coming out in the 2006 draft is to be believed, is deep at LT, DT, DE and CB--all potential positions of need for the Bills--which will make a pick in the 2006 draft a potential better one than an even higher pick in the 2005 draft.
Some may argue that this trade is premature and that TD should have held out for a higher pick: after all, T.Henry was a second round draft pick and a former Pro Bowler. But, as others have pointed out in other threads, this has been a bad market for RBs. Considering that Seattle and Indy were unable to get a second round pick for S.Alexander and E.James, who have been quite simply better than T.Henry, getting what should be a top of the round third round pick for T.Henry seems to me to be pretty reasonable and fair. While it is possible that a team might have offered a better pick than the Titans down the road, it isn't likely: Seattle is reported to have offered S.Alexander to Jax for their second round pick and Jax refused to make the deal--if they wouldn't give up a 2nd rounder for S.Alexander, why would they give up that pick for T.Henry? While it is likely that some RB will be hurt in TC or early in the season and a team might be willing to offer a 2nd rounder for T.Henry, there is no guarantee that they would do so and trading T.Henry now insures that the team will go into training camp without the distractions that would have arisen if T.Henry was still on the Bills' roster.
Finally, some may argue that the trade is all well and good, but it doesn't help the Bills now. Well, that's true to a certain extent, but not necessarily. As i pointed out earlier and in another thread, it is possible that the Bills may be able to use the money saved by trading T.Henry to sign R.Verba, if he comes to his senses and realizes that the Bills are really the only team interested in him at this point and is willing to sign with them. Certainly, it will give the Bills enough to sign a player like S.Gragg, who has started at LT for 2 of his seasons and was originally developed by Mouse McNally, should Gandy not be able to handle the LT position once the pads go on. Being able to add Verba or Gragg gives the Bills the flexibility to improve their offensive line situation this season should they feel that they need to do so. Or, they could use the money to try to sign T.McGee and/or N.Clements to an extension, which may not help this year, but will down the road.
It has been suggested that, if this trade had been made sooner, the Bills might have used a third round pick to take M.Wright in the supplemental draft. The problem is that, according to every report I have read, the offers for T.Henry did not begin heating up until this past week, with the Titans not offering more than a conditional fourth rounder before that and Jax only offering their third rounder around the middle of this week. Still, the Bills might have drafted Wright in anticipation that they would eventually trade T.Henry, but they didn't. And, in my opinion that was probably a good decision. Even though I initially raised the possibility of drafting Wright on this board when he declared for the supplemental draft, after reading reports about him and his workout for the scouts and hearing him in an interview, I came to the conclusion that drafting him would be a real risk. While he has a lot of talent, he is very immature and doesn't work hard. According to his college line coach, he is not ready for the NFL and would have been better off playing 2 more years in college. To me, that makes him a real boom or bust prospect with more potential to be a bust and not likely to be ready to offer immediate help to a team like the Bills this season. And, IMHO, that makes the issue of making this trade sooner even more of a moot point.
So, taking everything into consideration, I think that this is a pretty good trade for the Bills and that they have gotten as much as possible for T.Henry in this deal. What do you think?
Some may argue that the Bills could have gotten more for T.Henry last season when Miami was willing to give up a third round pick for a RB like L.Gordon, who doesn't even compare to T.Henry. But, in my view, the Bills did the right thing in holding onto T.Henry because they didn't know for sure that W.McGahee would play as well as he did (they may have thought that he would, but they didn't know that he would) or that T.Henry would play as poorly and as little as he ultimately did. Also, the best offer for T.Henry probably would have come from Miami and, for all of his shortcomings, you have to believe that Henry would have played well for Miami and saved his best for games against the Bills if he had been traded there.
Some may argue that the Bills should have traded T.Henry for L.Shelton when Arizona offered the Bills that deal. While that deal would have given the Bills an experienced, former first round draft pick to replace J.Jennings at LT, having watched Shelton's father play for the Knicks and read reports that, like his father, Shelton was a physically talented, but lackadaisical player, I was never sure that Shelton would really be the answer for the Bills at LT. I did not feel that the Arizona offer was worth it unless they were willing to swap places with the Bills in the second round of this past year's draft--which they were not. While Shelton is an experienced LT and he may or may not be better than Gandy, I'm not sure that he would have been a better option than S.Gragg, let alone R.Verba. While there was no way of knowing that Verba would be available at the time, I think a straight up deal of T.Henry for L.Shelton would not have been a particularly good one for the Bills.
Now, some might argue that the Bills could have and should have gotten a third round pick for T.Henry before or during the draft. However, all the reports that I have read suggest that no team offered the Bills anywhere near that high of a draft pick for T.Henry. While there were rumors about what was or wasn't being offered, the only solid offer that it was reported that the Bills definitely got was for a late round pick from Philly. Since TD said that he wasn't going to take less than a third round pick and took one when it was offered, I have to conclude that it lends credibility to his claim that he was not offered one during or before this year's draft. Moreover, while this deal doesn't offer the Bills immediate help right now, this past year's draft was acknowledged to be a weak one, while next year's draft is supposed to be better and, if the NFL.com rankings of players coming out in the 2006 draft is to be believed, is deep at LT, DT, DE and CB--all potential positions of need for the Bills--which will make a pick in the 2006 draft a potential better one than an even higher pick in the 2005 draft.
Some may argue that this trade is premature and that TD should have held out for a higher pick: after all, T.Henry was a second round draft pick and a former Pro Bowler. But, as others have pointed out in other threads, this has been a bad market for RBs. Considering that Seattle and Indy were unable to get a second round pick for S.Alexander and E.James, who have been quite simply better than T.Henry, getting what should be a top of the round third round pick for T.Henry seems to me to be pretty reasonable and fair. While it is possible that a team might have offered a better pick than the Titans down the road, it isn't likely: Seattle is reported to have offered S.Alexander to Jax for their second round pick and Jax refused to make the deal--if they wouldn't give up a 2nd rounder for S.Alexander, why would they give up that pick for T.Henry? While it is likely that some RB will be hurt in TC or early in the season and a team might be willing to offer a 2nd rounder for T.Henry, there is no guarantee that they would do so and trading T.Henry now insures that the team will go into training camp without the distractions that would have arisen if T.Henry was still on the Bills' roster.
Finally, some may argue that the trade is all well and good, but it doesn't help the Bills now. Well, that's true to a certain extent, but not necessarily. As i pointed out earlier and in another thread, it is possible that the Bills may be able to use the money saved by trading T.Henry to sign R.Verba, if he comes to his senses and realizes that the Bills are really the only team interested in him at this point and is willing to sign with them. Certainly, it will give the Bills enough to sign a player like S.Gragg, who has started at LT for 2 of his seasons and was originally developed by Mouse McNally, should Gandy not be able to handle the LT position once the pads go on. Being able to add Verba or Gragg gives the Bills the flexibility to improve their offensive line situation this season should they feel that they need to do so. Or, they could use the money to try to sign T.McGee and/or N.Clements to an extension, which may not help this year, but will down the road.
It has been suggested that, if this trade had been made sooner, the Bills might have used a third round pick to take M.Wright in the supplemental draft. The problem is that, according to every report I have read, the offers for T.Henry did not begin heating up until this past week, with the Titans not offering more than a conditional fourth rounder before that and Jax only offering their third rounder around the middle of this week. Still, the Bills might have drafted Wright in anticipation that they would eventually trade T.Henry, but they didn't. And, in my opinion that was probably a good decision. Even though I initially raised the possibility of drafting Wright on this board when he declared for the supplemental draft, after reading reports about him and his workout for the scouts and hearing him in an interview, I came to the conclusion that drafting him would be a real risk. While he has a lot of talent, he is very immature and doesn't work hard. According to his college line coach, he is not ready for the NFL and would have been better off playing 2 more years in college. To me, that makes him a real boom or bust prospect with more potential to be a bust and not likely to be ready to offer immediate help to a team like the Bills this season. And, IMHO, that makes the issue of making this trade sooner even more of a moot point.
So, taking everything into consideration, I think that this is a pretty good trade for the Bills and that they have gotten as much as possible for T.Henry in this deal. What do you think?