This one here convinces me. To my knowledge, Walter from
Walter football has never liked a thing the Jets have ever done.
Jets acquire OT Ryan Clady, 7th-rounder from Broncos for 5th-rounder
My apologies for this being several hours late. I was at a charity benefit tonight, and this trade took place as soon as I got there. I think we can all agree that NFL teams should be barred from making deals on Saturday night from now on. I think it would be better for everyone.
I want to keep complaining, but this trade is pretty logical for both teams. The Jets just lost D'Brickashsaw Ferguson - check out the disaster grade - and desperately needed to find a replacement because they were unlikely to land Jack Conklin at No. 20 overall in the 2016 NFL Draft. The Broncos, meanwhile, were shopping Ryan Clady after signing Russell Okung, making this a perfect match.
Clady is one of the more talented blind-side protectors in the NFL. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to stay healthy. He has missed 30 games the past three seasons, including all of 2015 with a torn ACL. However, Clady has immense upside, and he actually never was absent for a single start prior to 2013. Given that the Jets barely gave up anything, this is a steal.
Denver, on the other hand, struck a ridiculously cheap deal with Okung to help with its financial difficulty. Getting rid of Clady will allow them to have enough money to trade for Colin Kaepernick. That's not much of a reward, but the fact remains that the Broncos had to do this to relieve their cap situation.
Grade for Jets - A
Grade for Broncos - B
April 9 Updates
Jets sign OT Ryan Clady (2 years, $16 million): A Grade
I graded the Ryan Clady trade for both the Jets and Broncos below, but what about the actual contract? Signing Clady to a new deal was part of the swap, so I think it deserves its own separate grade.
While the Jets earned an "A" in the actual trade, this signing deserves a lesser mark, though not by much. Clady has missed 30 games in the past two seasons and happens to be coming off a torn ACL, so $9 million annually is obviously not ideal compensation. However, this is just a 2-year term, so the Jets aren't really locked into him for that long. Also, Clady's durability issues could be exaggerated. Sure, 30 missed games in three years is a ton, but Clady had never been out of the lineup a single instance before that. Perhaps he's just had some bad luck. He's still only 29, so he can certainly turn things around, and if so, this contract will look like a bargain.
Update: This was initially reported at two years and $18 million, but as it turns out, it's really just a 1-year, $6 million contract with a $10 million option for 2017. Thus, this is a great, no-risk signing for the Jets that deserves an "A."