Leonard Williams or the 44th pick in round two?

[LeveeBreak]

JS & Co. have made some miserable trades. LW is not one of them. Fine to nit on price, but in the end, his productivity and future potential with the bolstered D-Line flashes good decision right now. Hope the vision comes to fruition.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

It's the defensive line. Needed signing.

 

[olyfan63]

Out of curiosity how was a midseason big trade “out of character” ? These types of trades have been almost common practice in the PC era.

You beat me to it. PC/JS made a lot of midseason trades with draft capital. It took a toll, salary-cap-wise. Duane Brown was an OK trade, but then we had a DT or two whose names escapes me, OK, Sheldon Richardson, I think, that was a one-season rental, Clowney who I don't think we gave up much for. Taken one at a time, the trades were "OK", but the pattern was to prop up Pete in-season, and the net effect was to screw over the salary cap and bring in less young talent on rookie contracts. The Jamal Adams trade was just one more BAD example, though it was off-season trade, of Pete mortgaging the future, undervaluing draft picks, and taking an overly expensive risk on a player that underperformed.

Yes, LWilliams was a midseason prop-up-Pete Hail Mary, but the rest of the defense around him was so full of holes that it didn't matter anyway. In the end, *that* trade will probably wind up being a positive one. Pete never figured out how to stop the McVay Rams and also got torched by the Shanahan 49ers the last several years. Ironic that a "defense first" coach had a crap defense but a pretty good offense. Pete's formula worked a decade ago, and Hawks had a great defense, but not the last few seasons.

It's so refreshing to see MMacdonald emphasize the trenches in the draft and get players who will probably be NFL All-Pros during their rookie contracts.

 

[onanygivensunday]

... and get players who will probably be NFL All-Pros during their rookie contracts.

Whew... that's a mighty high expectation there, brother.

I'd settle for Pro-Bowlers, and I'd be VERY excited if that were to come to fruition.

 

[seabowl]

Williams was signed as a free agent. After listening to Leonard's interview, it sure sounded like he went to the highest bidder. They could have had both.

100% correct. And Seattle was the highest bidder because they paid that draft capital already and did not want to have egg on their face by letting him sign somewhere else so they were forced to pay him that money. Just not a smart trade.

 

[Double Tribble]

Depends on if the 2nd pick could have been used in a trade.

 

[chrispy]

Out of curiosity how was a midseason big trade “out of character” ? These types of trades have been almost common practice in the PC era.

I'm not sure "common practice"..., but a few. This one seems unique to me (I'm not trying to convince anyone and respect that you disagree).

The cap couldn't take on LWs hit and they brought him in anyway. Usually JS seems pretty reticent to play games with cap but he paid with draft capital here. That hadn't been done before (that I remember) either in practice with a mid-season trade or as a mentality from a JS led FO. He loves his draft picks and he ended up paying for cap space with a 2nd. It just stuck out to me as a move he wouldn't do unless there's something else going on.

In the end, it doesn't matter if it was "out of character" or "common practice". Additionally, my original speculation is just that. Let's just all agree that the LWilliams trade turned out better than several others. In a few years we'll be able to interpolate whether those trades were more PC or JS. ...and it won't really matter at that point either ....

 

[Scout]

You beat me to it. PC/JS made a lot of midseason trades with draft capital. It took a toll, salary-cap-wise. Duane Brown was an OK trade, but then we had a DT or two whose names escapes me, OK, Sheldon Richardson, I think, that was a one-season rental, Clowney who I don't think we gave up much for. Taken one at a time, the trades were "OK", but the pattern was to prop up Pete in-season, and the net effect was to screw over the salary cap and bring in less young talent on rookie contracts. The Jamal Adams trade was just one more BAD example, though it was off-season trade, of Pete mortgaging the future, undervaluing draft picks, and taking an overly expensive risk on a player that underperformed.

Yes, LWilliams was a midseason prop-up-Pete Hail Mary, but the rest of the defense around him was so full of holes that it didn't matter anyway. In the end, *that* trade will probably wind up being a positive one. Pete never figured out how to stop the McVay Rams and also got torched by the Shanahan 49ers the last several years. Ironic that a "defense first" coach had a crap defense but a pretty good offense. Pete's formula worked a decade ago, and Hawks had a great defense, but not the last few seasons.

It's so refreshing to see MMacdonald emphasize the trenches in the draft and get players who will probably be NFL All-Pros during their rookie contracts.

Rookie contracts are integral to control cap costs. But there is another factor and that is that you have more time to self scout if that player is worth re-signing. Proven players may play well for other teams but they are still x factors when they switch teams but also because their career trajectory also changes too.

Teams that have the luxury of trading for proven players tend to be on the cusp of being SB caliber. The miscalculation the Hawks made was they thought they were on the cusp of being a top tier team year in and year out. Which sapped their ability to build a foundation and a core.

The NFC may not have the high profile QB's like the AFC but it has a lot of teams that build around the trenches.

 

[olyfan63]

Whew... that's a mighty high expectation there, brother.

I'd settle for Pro-Bowlers, and I'd be VERY excited if that were to come to fruition.

Fair criticism. In hindsight, I'd like to think I meant Pro Bowlers and just got carried away in my enthusiasm.

Yes, let's go with Pro Bowlers first, then hope for continued improvement after that.