Sunday, June 3, 2007

The Worst Trade in Miami Dolphins History Part I

Back when I wrote my Worst Trade Ever post, I intended to follow it up with a piece on the Miami Dolphins' Worst Trade Ever. But the Miami Herald just had to beat me to the punch and write such an article themselves. Actually, Herald writer Israel Gutierrez looked at the worst trades in all of South Florida sports history but I could care less (or is that couldn't care less) about those non-NFL transactions. Gutierrez picked three Dolphin trades as being among the all-time five worst deals in S. Fla. sports history. They are:

1) DOLPHINS TRADE THEIR FIRST-ROUND DRAFT PICK (19TH OVERALL) TO GREEN BAY FOR PICKS NOS. 29 AND 60, THEN TRADE THE 60TH PICK TO DETROIT FOR PICKS NOS. 79, 143 AND 172 -- APRIL 18, 1998.

2) DOLPHINS TRADE JAKE SCOTT AND A 1977 FOURTH-ROUND DRAFT PICK TO WASHINGTON FOR BRYANT SALTER -- AUG. 24, 1976.

3) DOLPHINS TRADE A SECOND-ROUND PICK TO PHILADELPHIA FOR QUARTERBACK A.J. FEELEY -- MARCH 3, 2004.

Gutierrez picked another three Dolphin deals for the Dishonorable Mention category:

1) DOLPHINS TRADE NO. 1 PICK (25TH) AND FOURTH-ROUND PICK (125TH) IN 2002 AND NO. 1 PICK (18TH) IN 2003 TO NEW ORLEANS FOR RICKY WILLIAMS AND FOURTH-ROUND PICK (114) IN 2002.

2) DOLPHINS TRADE QUARTERBACK JOE THEISMANN TO WASHINGTON FOR A FIRST-ROUND PICK -- 1976.

3) DOLPHINS TRADE NO. 1 PICK (26TH OVERALL) AND TWO THIRD-ROUND PICKS TO BUFFALO FOR NO. 1 PICK (14TH) IN DRAFT TRADE-UP -- 1984.

Finally, Gutierez puts one Dolphin trade in the "Not As Bad As It Looked" category:

DOLPHINS TRADE RIGHTS TO RECEIVER ANTHONY CARTER TO MINNESOTA FOR LINEBACKER ROBIN SENDLEIN AND A SECOND-ROUND PICK -- 1986.

All in all, the Herald did a really good job of selecting all the contenders for worst Miami trade ever. I don't think Gutierrez missed anything. Surprisingly, after looking over that list you'd have to say that when it comes to trading Dolphins managment has avoided true disaster over the years. It's the draft where their sucking has really shined through.

The Feeley trade is definitely a worthy contender for the worst. And it's a special trade in Dolphins history because it's so perfectly encapsulates in one idiotic move just what a train wreck the Wannstedt/Spielman regime was. How stupid was this trade? In 2002, Feeley played in 6 games for Philly after McNabb went down with an injury (back when that was still a surprise). Here's what Feely did:

compattpctyardsYPATDIntRate
8615455.810116.566575.4


Yeah he went 4-1 but that's a good QB? Spielman and Wannstedt looked at those numbers (and he didn't play a down in 2003) and thought this was the guy to take over the reins? This dude was worth a second-rounder!??! Below average YPA, TD/INT ratio, and QB rating. Oh, I forgot he ran 12 times for 6 yards. He really added that "extra" dimension.

Other than the Feeley trade, I don't exactly agree with Mr. Gutierrez' rankings for the other deals and I'll take a closer look at his list over the next few days.


The Worst Trade in Miami Dolphins' History:

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Addendum: The Marlin Briscoe Trade

3 comments:

serge014 said...

I disagree with trading for Ricky Williams as a bad decision becaue we really needed him and he's a hell of a talent and there was no way of knowing he would ditch us for the weed or to travel the world because there is no such thing as crystal ball to look ahead. Now, if we made that trade knowing he would do the things he did, then yes, it's a bad decisio.

JoeMama said...

where's lamar gordon for a #3 (now THAT trade truly encapsulated the wanny/speilman mindset--speilman gave up a 3d rounder for a 3d string TB b/c he got desperate after ricky left, and wanny thought we aquired "lamont jorden)

how about wally a for marty booker and a 3d rounder (traded for gordon)? speilman was saying how they really got a 1st and 3d for wally b/c booker was as valuable as a 1st rounder. ha!!

Anonymous said...

wat about wes welker