The Trade That Rocked The World

Before we recap Week 3 of the NFFL, let's go over the two trades completed this week. Both involved the most valuable commodities in the NFFL, starting RBs, changing hands.

Lower Saxony trades RB Larry Johnson, RB Michael Bennett, and two 5th-round picks to Glasgow.
Glasgow trades RB Brandon Jacobs, RB Deshaun Foster, LB Derrick Johnson, one 1st-round pick and two 2nd-round picks to Lower Saxony.

The Patriots decided it was time to sell one of their cornerstones. RB Johnson has struggled this year, and I was down on him this season. I felt the Patriots should have tried to trade him during the off-season, as I didn't see his value getting any higher. But even though he waited a few weeks, he still got a considerable haul. RB Jacobs doesn't have the upside of Johnson, but he should still be a solid RB2 once he returns from injury. The impressive performance of Derrick Ward might reduce Jacobs' role moving forward. Foster has been great so far, but DeAngelo Williams will eventually become the starter. Foster is the RB2 of now, Jacobs is the RB2 of the future and Rudi Johnson is the RB1 when healthy. LB Johnson is a very good LB signed for three years at a reasonable price and should remain a starter for the Patriots for all three years. Glasgow has a great 1-2 punch in Johnson and Addai now and enough LB depth to trade Derrick Johnson. Edgerrin James is a starter on most NFFL teams, so it's not like Glasgow is lacking in depth.

In my opinion, this was a great trade for both sides. Since I'm not sold on a Johnson rebound, I give the slight edge to Lower Saxony in this deal. If the Warriors' first-rounder that the Patriots acquired ends up being a high pick, they'll have won this trade. If Johnson rebounds and becomes a top-ten back again, the Warriors will likely have improved their starting RB attack and still have good depth at both RB and LB.

Anglia trades RB Frank Gore, QB Brett Favre, QB Aaron Rodgers, WR Reggie Brown to New Mexico.
New Mexico trades RB Fred Taylor, QB Damon Huard, WR Jerricho Cotchery, LB Victor Hobson, a 3rd-round pick and a 5th-round pick to Anglia.

Is this a even trade? Not at all. If he actively shopped the players he traded on the open market, he would have seen a far greater return, especially considering that he didn't even acquire his initial target in the trade talks. Can I see Anglia's reasoning in making the trade? After talking to him a little bit, yes I can.

He wanted to get rid of Gore. He thinks the bottom is going to drop on Gore and wanted to sell while his value was still astronomical. Like I explained above, if I had Larry Johnson I probably would have done the same type of thing. Unfortunately, he misjudged Gore's value to the rest of the league and it cost him a great opportunity to either sell his most valuable asset for several veterans in an attempt to win this year or for several first-rounders and young players that would be integral in a rebuilding project.

This trade was essentially Gore for Taylor, Cotchery and the picks. With the struggles of Maurice Jones-Drew, Taylor should stick as the starter in Jacksonville barring injury. He definitely doesn't have the upside of Gore, but he should be OK as the RB2 in Anglia. Cotchery is seen as an up-and-coming WR with big play ability. He already has one game of 150+ yards this season. He's also signed to a five-year deal, so Anglia owns him for the future. Is he a known quantity, an established stud that you can rely on as an WR1? Definitely not, and the Dark Knights should have been able to get one by dealing Gore, especially since the team he was trading with has two WR1s on the roster and another good WR2. The picks are seen as worthless now, but Anglia might be able to land a very good RFA with each of the picks. Also if you do your homework, the fifth round is where you can take a chance on finding a potential stud for next-to-no salary. If that pans out, that pick could be the key to this deal.

The Dark Knights needed to clear salary, and decided QB was the place to do it. Favre is definitely in his last or next-to-last year. Rodgers isn't a known quantity; he could be great or he could stink. With Jon Kitna locked in as the Anglia starter, the team was using $5.36 million and eight years of cap space on these two backups. Favre was terrific against two bad secondaries and horrid against a good secondary this year. His next four games are against Minnesota, Chicago, Washington and Denver. All four of those teams have outstanding secondaries, though Chicago will be much easier since all of their starters are hurt. Favre's value will likely drop considerably in the next few weeks and now was definitely the time to trade him if you're not sold on his rejuvenation. Huard isn't any better, though he was great last year as the starter. But he costs significantly less and he'll only be the backup to Kitna. JaMarcus Russell is still the long-term answer for Anglia at the position.

Anglia probably made a hasty move dismissing Brown so quickly, but since he was going to cut him anyway it makes sense to rid him completely from the books. He was also able to get Hobson, who has started slow this year but did end last year with 100 tackles and six sacks. New Mexico is the unquestioned winner in this deal, but those that say there is absolutely no way Anglia gained anything from this deal are wrong.

Moving on to recaps of the week:

The WINNERS

Washington Braves (4-0)

The Braves are looking like the favorite to win the league, despite a subpar start from RB LaDanian Tomlinson. Washington got 23 points from both QB Matt Hasselbeck and RB Marion Barber en route to scoring 159 points and sweeping the doubleheader. Andre Johnson missed the game and scored as many points as his replacement, Troy Williamson. Washington obviously has fantastic starters, but depth looks to be a problem. LB Keith Bulluck tallied three interceptions and scored 22 points to lead the defense.

Anglia Dark Knights (3-1)

Lost among the trade outrage is the fact that Anglia has started 3-1, sweeping the doubleheader and scoring 138 points. QB Jon Kitna posted 23 points to lead the team while DB Adam Archuleta's 13 led the defense. TE Jason Witten and WR Derrick Mason also had good games in the victories. Backup QB Brett Favre scored 32 points on the bench, but RB Frank Gore struggled and finished the day with four points and WR Reggie Brown only had two.

Chicago Goodfellas (3-1)

Nine Chicago players reached double-digits this week, led by RB LaMont Jordan's 21. Jordan has continued to succeeded and should garner most of the playing time when Dominic Rhodes returns from suspension. QB Vince Young continues to impress, scoring 18 on Monday night. On defense, the normally reliable DB Chris Hope only scored three points and DL Jevon Kearse was shut out, but the rest did a great job picking them up and scored 64 points.

Cincinnati Keepers (3-1)

The Keepers' offense played out of their minds this week in leading the team to a sweep and 166 points. WR Kevin Curtis scored 40 points to lead the team and QB Phillip Rivers added 28. WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh (18), RB Reggie Bush (15) and WR Brandon Marshall (13) also had good games. Only two Cincinnati defenders scored more than five points, but the offensive explosion masked the deficiency.

Fairfax Foxes (2-2)

The only winless team after two weeks, Fairfax was eager to prove they weren't the worst team in the league. With 179 points scored, mission accomplished. QB Donovan McNabb and RB Brian Westbrook overcame the ugly uniforms and combined for 77 points to lead the team to the sweep. DB Sean Jones led the defense with 18 points. Backup DB Marlin Jackson had 15 tackles on the bench and will probably be in the lineup next week as a result.

The LOSERS

California Xtreme (1-3)

The slow start by the Xtreme got worse in the doubleheader. Not only did they manage just 86 points, but they also lost RB Deuce McAllister for the year. McAllister did score any points in the game and teammate QB Drew Brees had -1 in the losses. K Sebastian Janikowski led the team with 14 points. On the bench, RB Reuben Droughns scored two TDs, and California can only hope he can repeat that performance next week.

Carson City Bandits (1-3)

Despite a big game from DL Trent Cole, the Bandits could only score 101 points and were swept in Week 3. Cole had three sacks and ended the game with 21 points, which led the team. QB Matt Leinart scored two points and was sat in favor of Kurt Warner during the game. Backup QB Trent Green had 16 points and will probably be looked at as a short-term solution. WR Shaun McDonald scored 13 points, but the other two WRs each scored one point.

Glasgow Warriors (1-3)

Like the Bandits, the Warriors only got one big game and as a result were swept this week. RB Joseph Addai scored 20 points to lead the team. LB Adalius Thomas was good with 11 points to lead the defense and three other players chipped in to score ten each. RB Edgerrin James scored six points. QB Eli Manning was also mediocre, scoring nine points. On the bench, RB Deshaun Foster scored 25 and would have led Glasgow to a split if started over James.

Halifax Armada (1-3)

Halifax is the hard-luck loser of the week, scoring 140 points but still getting swept in the doubleheader. QB Tom Brady scored 34 points to lead the team and RB Adrian Peterson added 18. DB Kerry Rhodes was the only other player over ten, though only two players scored less than six. Backup LB Mathias Kiwanuka scored 21 after tallying two sacks. Backup DL Andre Carter also had a sack and scored 12. Backup WR Vincent Jackson scored 15.

Utica Devils (1-3)

Five Utica players score one point or no points at all as the Devils scored 120 points and were swept in the Week 3. QB Tony Romo scored 23 and LB London Fletcher scored 20 to lead their sides of the ball. WR Donald Driver also had a big day and scored 18 while RB Steven Jackson added 12. Jackson did suffer an injury and has been ruled out for next week. LB Michael Boley also did well, scoring 11 points.

The SPLITS

Austin Predators, Bertrand Ground Force, Boston Inferno, Greenville Storm, Lower Saxony Patriots, New Mexico Raiders (2-2)

The Predators had a rough day and scored 127 points, with the biggest letdown coming from QB Marc Bulger and his -2 points. RB Ronnie Brown had 40 points and was the main reason that Austin wasn't swept. Only four Bertrand players scored over ten points, led by QB Carson Palmer's 15, as the team scored 113. Playing the lowest score of the week, that total was enough to win one game. Boston had a great week scoring 160 but ran into the best score of the week and received a split. Boston WR Roy Williams scored 26 and returning DL Jared Allen scored 24. Greenville only scored 113 with RB Marshawn Lynch's 13 leading the team. The Storm bench played poorly as well, so a sweep was almost out of the question for Greenville. Lower Saxony scored 128 points, which was good for an eight-point victory over Glasgow. Patriot WR Anquan Boldin was huge with 30 points, while RB Larry Johnson scored only four and was promptly traded. New Mexico scored 132 points, but that wasn't good enough for management and the team traded for as many Anglia star players as humanly possible. WR Randy Moss had another great game and DL Elvis Dumervil led the defense after scoring 20 points with two sacks.

Check the NFFL Weekly for the Week 3 awards!