Trade Dispute: Rodgers, Schaub, Johnson & more

Q: Within 24 hours after a draft, 12 teamer, a team traded Chris Johnson(Pick 1.5), Dwayne Bowe(Pick 3.5), and Matt Schaub(Pick 6.8) for Ryan Grant(Pick 3.10), Aaron Rodgers(Pick 4.3), and Muhsin Muhammed(Pick 11.10).

I made such a stick that they withdrew the trade.  They then proceeded to make it even worse by making 2 trades on consecutive days;

Trading Dwayne Bowe(Pick 3.5), Antonio Bryant(Pick 5.5), and Matt Schaub(Pick 6.8) for Aaron Rodgers(Pick 4.3), Muhsin Muhammed(Pick 11.10), and Hakeem Nicks(Pick 13.10).

Then trade Chris Johnson(Pick 1.5), Kevin Walter(Pick 8.8), and Chester Taylor(Pick 11.5) for Ryan Grant(Pick 3.10), Julius Jones(Pick 8.3), and Brian Robiskie(Pick 14.3).

The commissioner is the one getting the better end of these deals.  I told them rather then police them all year long, I will just quit the league and not pay my entry fee.

A: So this trade is obviously about upgrading at QB for Team A (team that receives Rodgers) and if you keep that in mind you will see why would let this trade (and the original) pass.   For the purpose of comparison, we’ll combine both trades into one and look at this by position ranking based off ESPN’s 2009 Projections.

QB  – Team A receives Rodgers (5);  Team B receives Schaub (9);  Advantage:  Team A

RB – Team A receives Grant (19) and J.Jones (42);  Team B receives Johnson (6) and C.Taylor (44);  Advantage:  Team B

WR – Team A receives Muhammed (17), Robiskie (60) and Nicks (64);  Team B receives Bowe (11), Bryant (24) and Walter (28);  Advantage:  Team B

Now even though Team A has the advantage at QB,  the most obvious discrepancy in this trade is at the WR position where Team B is receiving a huge, 3-part upgrade.   Given the fact that Team B also has an advantage (and possible the best player involved in the trade) at RB, we completely understand your concern.   In fact we would absolutely rather be in Team B’s position in this trade.

That said, we believe that trades should only be overturned when there is a clear case of collusion (that has never been alleged in this incident), when the trade involves dumping players to another team before the playoffs (not applicable) or when the trade is so lopsided that there is absolutely no chance that one team could benefit from the transaction.    This trade may be uneven, but it isn’t lopsided to the aforementioned extreme.

For example, there are always a lot of question marks at the beginning of the season.   Team A is upgrading at QB with Rodgers who has much more potential than Schaub despite the closeness of their ESPN rankings.   Perhaps Team A is of the opinion that based off your scoring system, having a better QB is most important.

Let’s look at the RB swaps in this trade as well.   Chris Johnson has the highest preseason rank.   But his “back-up”, Lendale White, had 15 TDs last year, is in a contract year and has shown up to camp in much better shape.   Chester Taylor isn’t even a starter, unlike Team A’s safer RB pickups of J.Jones and Grant.

All of this creates enough reasonable doubt, that we can not recommend a veto of this trade.   You have to let your league owners manage their rosters.   If there is foul play present, then a trade should be vetoed.   Only in extreme cases should a trade be vetoed otherwise.   While we do not condone, leaving a league mid-season, or neglecting to pay your dues, if we disagree so much with the conduct of the other league members, you may want to find another league.