Trading Talent to get Talent: Who Might be Out the Door Next Year

In the midst of all the talks of draft possibilities and hope free agent signings, there comes the lost art of the offseason; the trade.

While I'm not much for trading away members of such a young and still-developing team. We have some juicy trade opportunities we can look into.

Trade Huff: I've always had the idea of trading Huff from the very instant he got hot this year. There is no better time to do it either. He only has 1-year left on his contract so the other team wouldn't have to pay much, he's playing his best ball right now, and we have people behind him who could take his place so the trade wouldn't decimate our safety position.

But what could we get for Huff? Realistically I'm thinking a third round pick is the best we can get and we should ask for nothing less. Huff is probably worth a second rounder, but teams won't be convinced by one good year to give up that kind of pick. But a mid-third rounder, I could see it happening. Perhaps Al works his post-second round magic and gets us a good OLB or even a good corner to push Routt to dime. For any other team, a third-rounder would be a waste. But Davis has amazing luck with these third-round and on picks, so this is actually really good for us.

Plus, Huff might revert to pre-2009 form next year. Who knows? The only bad side is if Michael Mitchell isn't yet up to starting quality (which I think he could have a tyvon-esque second year) and Hiram Eugene is no better.

Possible Trade Partners: A team like Jacksonville that's getting beat on the deep ball and getting killed by tight ends underneath is the prime destination. There's also Minnesota who's getting killed by tight ends and is lacking at safety after the departure of Darren Sharper. As much as I'd hate to see him here, Pittsburgh is another possibility. Polamalu's repeated injuries are translating to poor coverage and Ryan Clark at free safety is no better.

Trade Kelly: Hear me out on this one. If a team is willing to put up with the contract, a lot of 4-3 defenses could use him at UT. And if we want, we can stick with Warren who's the more potent pass rusher and still have Warren Sapp 1.0 in Desmond Bryant. With NT already being a priority that should be addressed anyway, we'd still have two quality guys at UT.

So why Kelly and not the better pass rusher Warren? Kelly is more consistent and is the much bigger name. Teams have to figure that Kelly's contract means something, and who knows what teams might have in mind for a Tommy Kelly. Maybe a 3-4 team could use him at end?

We're looking once more at a third round pick, but I'd like to see a player or a sixth rounder thrown in with this. The reality is, Kelly is one of three UT's on this team with Warren having the occasional big play in the run game. Plus Bryant is already as good a run stopper as Kelly and possibly a better pass rusher. A nose tackle is bound to come in anyway so we'd still have three solid DT's (if the NT would pan out), so let's at least get something from a hashed DT.

Kelly isn't improving, Warren's the better UT, Bryant is a gem of a DT project, to me there's no downside.

Possible Trade Partners: The Detroit Lions immediately came to mind. Outside of Cliff Avril, that D-Line is one of the worst in the league. Kelly paired up with a fundamental run stopper like Grady Jackson could be something good for Detroit. They have youth on the team developing, what's two draft picks if you can get that D-Line put together a little more? I could also see the Titans wanting Tommy Kelly. After a bad defensive year in which pressure and pass coverage were hard to come by, Tennessee might be in the mood to improve their D-Line's pass rush to keep linebackers in coverage. And don't look now, but Tampa's going to be hunting for something to revamp that D-Line.

Trade Bush: I'm not supporting this move at all, I LOVE Michael Bush to death. I think he's the next Jamal Lewis, power with some speed and elusiveness to him. And a great receiver from the backfield. But if the Raiders aren't using him, he could be shipped out. Personally i think this sets us back big time with our running game.

However the Raiders might go the route of the Broncos and just dig up a power back from free agency to take his place. With as hellbent as they are on McFadden being a future star (I'd much rather trade him), don't be surprised if this does happen.

Honestly I think we could get a second round pick for Bush along with a fourth or fifth bundled in. . Teams have seen plenty of what he can do, mainly carving up the 3rd ranked Broncos rush D for a ton of yards. A lot of teams would like to have that for themselves.

The downside, we pass up on what I know WILL be a top-10 running back in this league and he'll probably come back to Oakland to run all over us.

Possible Trade Partners: Possibilities are endless with a talent like Bush. But the prime candidate to me is the Washington Redskins. Portis is getting old and very injury prone and I highly doubt Ladell Betts is their future. Bush would be able to rotate with Portis, learn from Portis, and be their back of the future. Especially since Washington loves an every-down, 20 carries a game, running back. You could also look at Detroit once again. They could use a split back with Kevin Smith to keep him healthy and effective. Plus I think Smith paired with Bush would be one hell of a 1-2 punch to complement Calvin Johnson and the pass attack.

Trade McFadden: My dream trade. As much as we all like to think it, McFadden does not have any sort of homerun potential. If he did we'd have seen him break an 80-yarder for a TD like DeAngelo Williams and Chris Johnson do on a practically daily basis. He'll never be a homerun hitter because he goes down so easily that if he ever ran against the breeze it'd probably tackle him, and he's too injury prone.

Now while you'd think this would repel trade offers, it won't. McFadden has endless possibilities and i think a lot of teams would like to see what they can do with him in their offense. Many of the up-and-coming offenses in this league would love to have a back who can be another receiver.

What could we get? I'm thinking a second rounder or a third bundled with a fourth or fifth. Teams still think he's that breakaway, do everything kinda guy. Luckily we know better. It's not a trade I see happening, but I don't see it not happening either.

Possible Trade Partners: Once again a lot of teams are looking to bolster their run games and some would love to bolster the pass attack with McFadden. I'm looking once again at Washington, especially if Shanahan coaches there next year. He likes to do a lot of different things on offense and has seen Mcfadden do some damage against his own Denver team. Of course this also goes hand-in-hand with rotation for Portis and possibly the back of the future. I also think St. Louis is another prime candidate. A struggling passing game, the lack of rotation to keep an injury prone Steven Jackson healthy, the lack of a big-play guy on offense. Seattle is another prime candidate in my mind.

Overall i think these are the most likely trade scenarios and with the obvious exception of the Bush trade, I'd like all of these to happen. However I wouldn't be displeased if none of them happened. So my fellow Silver and Black Prideful, what are your thoughts on these trades and maybe other trade possibilities?