While the NFL is in midst of a season that can be defined by parity, there are teams out there that are currently completely out of playoff contention heading into the second half of the season.
And with the trade deadline now moved back until after Week 8, these teams had an opportunity to shed some contracts and rid themselves of some veterans that won’t play much of a role in their long-term plans.
Unfortunately, every single one of these cellar-dwellers (with a possible exception of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) dropped the ball big time here. Tampa Bay sent linebacker Jonathan Casillas to the New England Patriots and safety Mark Barron to the St. Louis Rams for a fourth and sixth rounder.
While Tampa Bay was busy adding to its stockpile of picks for the 2015 NFL draft, other bottom feeders were quiet. The assumption here is that there would have been some interest level for the following players if these teams didn’t comes to the table with absurd trade demands.
New York Jets
Here is a team that could have easily made a couple moves in order to look to the future. David Harris, Kyle Wilson and Willie Colon are all slated to be free agents after this year. While Harris is someone the team might decide to engage in long-term negotiations with, he could have netted a nice return from a team in need of help at inside linebacker. The Detroit Lions, who lost Stephen Tulloch for the season, would have been a nice fit. As it relates to Wilson, the Jets are already short-handed at cornerback, but being able to get anything for the former first-round bust would have been seen as a steal. Colon plays a position (guard) of utmost need for a lot of teams, and likely would have drawn some interest.
Listen, the Jets are a one-win team with these veterans in the fold. Why not go out there and check in on the interest level of some players who likely don’t figure into their future? It’s this type of narrow-minded approach that has handcuffed this organization in previous seasons.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Courtesy of Jacksonville.com: Why not look into moving Shorts?
With youngsters Allen Robinson and Marqise Lee in the fold, Jacksonville had an excellent trade chip in wide receiver Cecil Shorts, who is set to become a free agent following the 2014 season. While the idea of taking a target away from rookie quarterback Blake Bortles doesn’t make much sense short term, the Jaguars have a whole host areas they will need to address in order to become viable. In addition to Shorts’ upside, he would have been a minimal short-term contract for a team to take on. That could have easily netted the Jaguars a pick within the top 100 next year.
Defensive ends Chris Clemons and Tyson Alualu could have also drawn some interest around the league. Neither is scheme specific, which indicates a larger pool of teams likely would have at least talked with Jacksonville.
Oakland Raiders
As the worst team in the NFL, Oakland likely didn’t have the necessary talent to acquire multiple draft picks for players that don’t figure into its future. But the likes of defensive lineman Antonio Smith and cornerback Tarell Brown would have likely drawn some interest in exchange for late-round picks. It doesn’t seem like Reggie McKenzie and Co. had much to work with here, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt.
Tennessee Titans
WR Nate Washington, LB Wesley Woodyard, S Michael Griffin could be on trade block for Titans http://t.co/QM8Nx9kMpT
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) October 23, 2014
Surely the Titans were listening on the likes of Nate Washington and Michael Griffin, but neither likely drew much interest on the trade market. And to be honest, the powers to be in Tennessee had to know this. But what about Jake Locker for a conditional late-round pick? He will not be returning to the Titans next season and barring an injury to Zach Mettenberger has likely played his last snap for the team.
You cannot tell me that the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys wouldn’t have shown interest. These two teams cannot rely on their current backups should their franchise quarterback go down. And while Locker would need to get accustomed to a new offense, this would have been low risk for everyone involved. If Locker ended up starting (and succeeding) for one of these teams, the Titans would have received a pick in return. These are the type of non-trades that simply don’t make sense.
Photo: NY Post