THE JARED ALLEN TRADE: Good or Bad?

Apr 23, 2008, 12:56:38 PM

No issue has been more debated in recent days than the Jared Allen trade. Now it’s done. Our columnists weigh in on another in a series of free-flowing conversations.

Here’s the question everyone is asking: was it a good deal or a bad one?

RUFUS DAWES: “A promising one, in this way. There is no better time you could do it. The Chiefs are not a player away, or several players away. To think that Kansas City could take a former fourth round player and turn a trade of him into a first and two third round picks in one year’s draft would on the surface be recognized as a pretty good deal, no matter how good a veteran player you were dealing away was.

“Jared Allen was one player on a team that produced a 4-12 season. If he returned, the team’s record while maybe improved would not be so to the extent that Jared Allen was solely responsible for it. Now, the players the Chiefs pick will determine if it is a good deal or not. So, it’s promising in that way.

“It’s dishonest to look at any trade of Jared Allen as some Carl Peterson-Jared Allen feud. Consider it on its merits: what does it do for the Chiefs, or better still, what can it do?

BOB GRETZ: “The organization has talked about building the roster through the draft. Now, they’ve got a chance in a big way. The Chiefs own three of the first 35 choices, six of the first 82 selections and seven of the first 105 players that will be drafted.

“The Chiefs have to make those picks work. A player selected among the first 105 choices should become a starter for your team. Given the holes in the team’s roster and starting lineup, by the end of the 2009 season, all seven of those players should be part of the Chiefs starting lineup. That’s one-third of the 22 spots

“Never have the Chiefs had this kind of opportunity to build their talent base. It’s the most remarkable bounty of quality picks in franchise history. The AFL and NFL combined their drafts in 1967 and in the previous 41 drafts the Chiefs have twice had five of the first 79 choices: in 1976 and 1981. In ‘76 the Chiefs hit on a pair of third round choices: safety Gary Barbaro and receiver Henry Marshall. In ‘81 it was three out of the five: TE Willie Scott (1st round), running back Joe Delaney (2nd) and safety Lloyd Burruss (3rd.)

“In their last two drafts put together by Bill Kuharich, the Chefs had six choices above the 105th pick. Right now four of those six are in the starting lineup: QB Brodie Croyle, safety Bernard Pollard, defensive end Tamba Hali and receiver Dwayne Bowe. The other two could be there by opening day: defensive end Turk McBride and defensive tackle Tank Tyler.”

RON BORGES: “The Kansas City Chiefs did what they needed to do today, trading a player who figured to be both unhappy and very likely gone for the kind of passel of draft picks few teams are able to command in a deal any more.

“Certainly losing the NFL’s leading pass rusher (at least statistically) will hurt the Chiefs’ defense but they lost nine straight games to end the season with Jared Allen chasing down quarterbacks so how much worse off will they be without him?

“The trade itself is a clear plus for the Chiefs because they now have the potential to significantly improve in a hurry a team that managed to go 4-12 even with Jared Allen playing like a demon. Add three or four players who become solid starters, say, out of those six picks in the first 82 choices and Peterson will be on the way to executive of the year. More importantly, his team should be on the road to respectability.”

JONATHAN RAND: “I didn’t think there was any way this trade could turn out to be a win for the Chiefs. But it is. I knew Jared Allen wanted $30 million in guaranteed money, but I didn’t think anyone would give him that much. He got more. I figured the Chiefs would want a first and second-round draft choice or a first-rounder plus a few other high picks but I was dubious about their bargaining position given Allen’s determination to get out of town.”

EILEEN WEIR: “How do you win 16 games and still get a top ten draft pick? Great trades. The Jared Allen deal will likely be regarded as the pivotal moment of the Chiefs resurgence provided the team drafts well over the next two years. It is exhilarating to see the Chiefs follow the New England Patriots model of dealing players at the top of their marketability rather than hanging on to the security of trusted performers.

“The move, moreover, reveals Peterson and Edwards’ confidence going into this weekend. Stockpiling draft picks reaffirms the lip-service the management and coaching staffs have been paying to rebuilding through the college ranks and demonstrates their belief that there is enough raw talent in this year’s class to justify accumulating picks rather than retaining disgruntled free agents.”

GRETZ: “Building through the draft is a lifestyle choice in the NFL and one single draft does not make a championship team. (See Point of Order – What’s at Stake?) But the opportunity available to the Chiefs this weekend is vitally important, especially when you consider the rest of the AFC West.

“While the Chiefs have seven of the first 105 choices, San Diego-Oakland-Denver own five of the first 105 [picks]. Combined. The Chargers have the 27th choice, the Raiders have the 4th and 104th picks and the Broncos have the 12th and 42nd selections.”

BORGES: “There is no better, or faster, way to rebuild a team that has fallen upon hard times than through the draft and Peterson has now put the Chiefs in that position. Of course, he still has to make those selections good ones and that is always where the problems lie.

“But with two ones, two threes, and a slightly upgraded sixth he has increased his chances of drafting success because as the New England Patriots have proven in recent years a volume of picks is often more important than where any one individual pick lies.”

RAND: “This trade fits what both teams want. The Vikings think a big-time pass rusher gives them a shot to win their division and the Chiefs now have more picks for their build-through-the-draft plan.”

GRETZ: “Losing a player of Allen’s caliber hurts, there is no denying that fact. Pundits and fans can shout to the high heavens about how the relationship between the team and Allen soured this deal. Carl Peterson will be painted as the bad guy; isn’t he always?

“But understand this: if the Chiefs had been willing to give Allen $31 million in guaranteed money, he would have signed the contract and posed for pictures while shaking hands with Peterson. The Chiefs simply decided they were not going to make Allen the highest paid defensive player in the league. So they gave up a good player. In return they’ve put themselves smack dab into the position they began wishing for two years. Now, they’ve got to make it work.”

DAWES: “The Chiefs have said that they are building through the draft and that is not something that, despite all the evidence, is popular with a group of local media and likely a fair number of fans. It evokes a picture of a developing team, not a contending team. It’s a new approach in direct conflict to the more familiar one of we’re just one or two players away. We’re dealing away Jared Allen, not dealing for a Joe Montana, although it’s more of a stretch to believe the former is in any way in the category of the latter.

“The dealing away of Jared Allen would never be totally accepted in this market no matter what the conditions were because it’s a different approach than what has been done here for over 20 years. They are used to seeing favored players coming, not going.”

Related:
KC Trades DE Jared Allen to Minnesota for Multiple Draft Choices