The Worst Trade in Miami Dolphins History, Part II

Ok, here's the Miami Herald's other two choices for worst Dolphins trade ever:

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.

Gutierrez rips this deal because trading down to the 29th cost Miami the chance to take Randy Moss (who went 22nd). However, Jimmy Johnson said he wouldn't have drafted Moss. He wanted a running back and he thought John Avery was the man. So he traded down, got an extra pick, and later traded the extra pick for more picks. Classic JJ. It didn't work out because Avery sucked. And Johnson should have known he was going to suck. C'mon Jimmy. Nobody was talking about this guy as a top back. All the extra picks sucked too. LB Brad Jackson at No. 79, G Scott Shaw at No. 143 and QB John Dutton at No. 172. Busts all. But the trade could have worked if Jimmy just picked better in the spots he had. Ahman Green lasted until the 60th pick. Hines Ward until 92nd. Take those guys instead of Avery and Jackson and it's an all-time great draft. Even Michael Pittman (95th pick) might have done well for Miami. Look what journeyman Lamar Smith did for us in 2000. And Karim Abdul-Jabbar had almost a 1000 yards in 1998. And how about Matt Hasselbeck going 187th?! Jimmy could have had him with one of those second-day draft picks Johnson traded for, turned the thing into a huge success, and avoided the future Fiedler/Feeley/Frerotte fiasco to come.

Of course Johnson might have been lying, not wanting to admit he traded down before the draft 'cause he assumed Moss would be gone by the 19th pick anyway. It's not like Johnson avoided bad character types (I'm looking at you Cecil Collins). Of course it wasn't just Moss Miami missed out on though. Other good players went between 19 and 29 including Alan Faneca. But the draft wasn't a total bust. Miami landed Patrick Surtain with the 44th pick, Kenny Mixon at 49, and Lorenzo Bromell at 102. Surtain was a Pro Bowler and great CB while Mixon and Bromell were solid players who spent four years with the Dolphins. Plus Bromell broke Peyton's Manning's jaw in 2001. That's gotta be worth something right?

I can go back and forth on this one. Jimmy did screw this draft up no question, but I'd chalk it up to bad picks not a bad trade.



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

Jake Scott. MVP of Super Bowl VII. Five-time Pro Bowler. Three-time All-Pro. The best free safety the Dolphins have ever had. And they traded him away for garbage. Bryan Salter. Played 12 games for Miami and was gone. So worst trade ever? Not really. Scott was on the other side of 30 when he got dealt. He wasn't returning punts anymore either, so presumably he'd lost a step. He only played three more years and he didn't make any Pro Bowls with the Redskins. Plus, he supposedly pissed off Shula somehow and had to go. "Team chemistry" don't ya know. Remember, it was 30 years before T.O. and being a jackass didn't help your career back then. Miami probably didn't lose much by trading Scott at that point in his career. The only problem with the deal is they got nothing for Scott. He was still a name player and they should have gotten somebody decent. If they had they'd probably have come out ahead. Getting a worthless player makes the trade a bad one but nothing disastrous.

The Worst Trade in Miami Dolphins' History:

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