The NFL Thread 2016: New England Patriots Win Super Bowl LI

[theRepublic]

JWeinCom said:

theRepublic said:

It is a terrible trade.  They gave up way too much for a QB who has never won more than 7 games in a season.  Could have done that this season with Hill.  Or any available or soon to be available QB.  However, to defend them a little bit, what they did was get a short term solution and a long term insurance policy in one guy.  Bridgewater is unlikely to be 100% by the beginning of next year.  I think we are still too early to even say his career is safe.  His surgery doesn't even happen until Thursday.

What available or soon to be available QBs were on the table?  Mark Sanchez is probably the best off the available players and... he's Mark Sanchez.

Vikings had absolutely no leverage in the situation.  The Eagles probably actually would have asked for more for Bradford if he wasn't already unhappy with them.  Bradford actually may be a slight upgrade over Bridgewater in the short term.  Plus, I think the Vikings only had Shaun Hill on the roster, so they were going to have to sign a backup anyway.  That could have been from the free agent market, but that'd be kind of a waste of money.  

Vikings felt like they had the talent to win now, and Shaun Hill wasn't going to do it for them, and nothing good was on the horizon.  It was a steep price to pay, but when you're stranded in the desert and water is 20 bucks a bottle, you gotta consider it.

It is the end of the preseason.  Lots of cuts happen then, and sometimes unexpected ones.  Sanchez was a good example, but looks like Dallas grabbed him.

Of course the Vikings had no leverage.  That is a reason to stand pat, not to make a move.  How is signing a free agent a waste of money?  They still have to pay Bradford, and gave up picks to get him on top of that.

Listen, I am a former Rams fan.  Bradford is a below average QB in this league.  And the Vikings gave up two(!) picks to get him.  One was a first rounder!  That is nuts.  I am not even sure Bradford is a big upgrade over Hill.  Especially not Week 1.  It will be interesting to see how long it takes Bradford to get comfortable in this offense.

The way the Vikings are currently built, they only need a game manager anyway.  Why spend so much capital for a game manager?

By the way, here is the number of games Bradford has played in his career (starting with rookie year): 16, 10, 16, 7, 0, 14.  All those picks for about a 50% chance he plays the whole season.