When it comes to NFL player moves, what do we define as “crazy?” It’s usually a wacky contract or lopsided trade, but in the cases I’m about to lay out before you, there’s a reason each move actually makes tons of sense for the teams involved.
So hear me out.
The Browns should sign Trent Richardson
Trent Richardson is widely regarded as one of the biggest draft busts in recent NFL history and if you look at his overall stats and performance since being drafted No. 3 overall out of Alabama in 2013, it bears that out. But Richardson wasn’t a bust for one team; the Cleveland Browns.
The Browns got a solid rookie season out of Richardson in 2012, gaining 950 yards and scoring 11 touchdowns. People won NFL fantasy titles that year starting Richardson. The next season, right before Richardson got on the bust train, the Browns traded him for the Indianapolis Colts’ 2014 No. 1 pick. We’ll ignore who they took with that extra pick (his name rhymes with Shawny Flanziel), but the investment in Richardson came with a return. A solid rookie season and the return of the Browns’ pick. They basically got Richardson for free. By signing Richardson again, they’re playing with the house’s money.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JBn9EPfSzA
That concept, “playing with the house’s money,” will show up again in this article. But the basic idea is, say you bet $100 on a game of blackjack and you win, taking your cash total to $200. You then take out your original $100 and only use the money you won on your ensuing bets. That way if you lose, you’re down nothing. But if you win, well, you win. And winning is good.
So here’s how the Browns should look at signing Richardson. Not only do they get their former No. 3 overall pick back on the roster at a ridiculously lower contract/cap number, they also made an extra pick in the process. Sure, they wasted it, but that move isn’t on the current regime.
It wasn’t a reach that the Browns took Richardson at No. 3 in 2012. The man was a beast at Alabama and the best running back in college football. If the Browns hadn’t taken Richardson at No. 3, the Jacksonville Jaguars probably would have grabbed him at five. He would have never gotten past the Buffalo Bills at 10.
Richardson, in Hue Jackson’s capable hands, could rediscover the magic that made him a first round pick to begin with. And if he doesn’t, the Browns can cut him and not lose a single dollar in the process.
The Rams should sign Zac Stacy and Steven Jackson
The Rams drafted Zac Stacy in the fifth round of the 2013 draft and he nearly rushed for 1,000 yards as a rookie, picking up 973 and scoring seven touchdowns. He looked like a solid pick as the Rams’ running back of the future, but they kept replacing him. First with Tre Mason in 2014, then with Todd Gurley in 2015. When Gurley was drafted, Stacy requested a trade and got it. The Rams sent him to the New York Jets for a seventh round pick. This offseason the Jets cut him.
Obviously that is net loss on Stacy, recouping a seventh rounder in exchange for a fifth rounder. But if the Rams re-sign Stacy, and they should, they end up with that fifth-rounder back. They’ve, in effect, made a seventh rounder. They’re playing with the house’s money.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oplKg5Brh_M
Los Angeles is suddenly NFL running back poor. After Gurley and Benny Cunningham the roster takes a huge dive thanks to Trey Watts’ indefinite drug suspension and Tre Mason’s sudden decision to become a crazy person.
Malcolm Brown and Aaron Green are interesting prospects, but in Stacy the Rams know what they’re getting. They’ve had success with the guy before and he’s a much better bruiser than Mason, Gurley’s No. 2 last year. Why not bring him back?
As for Steven Jackson, I just want to see him finish up his career as a Ram and get a taste of Los Angeles after setting the all-time team rushing records in St. Louis. He can still be a productive runner, and he can really help in the passing game. Especially on protection. He’ll be cheap and a good influence on the younger guys in camp. Come on.
