McNabb’s Trade Impact On Miami

From a far viewing perspective, the surface of the Donovan McNabb trade wouldn’t affect the Miami Dolphins.  That however is not entirely true.  If the team was looking to trade one of their QB’s that is.  Trades over the last few days will directly impact the Phins desires to move some players.

The first name that comes into play here is Jason Campbell.  With McNabb now on roster, Campbell’s days in Washington are numbered.  The team has already told him not to report to off-season workouts and they will rescind their first round tender on the QB sending him into free agency.

Jason Campbell is not a stellar hot name QB but he has starting experience and teams looking to add back-up depth to their teams will look at Campbell before, say, Tyler Thigpen.

The Dolphins have 4 QB’s on roster right now, Chad Henne, officially named the starter by coach Sparano, Chad Pennington, officially named the number 3 QB, and Pat White.  White and Thigpen have not been named to any of the slots but it’s obvious that one is 2 and the other is 4.  So it only asks the question, which one will get traded?

If Donovan McNabb was traded for a 2nd round pick and conditional 4th in 2011, what would the value of say, Thigpen be?  Thigpen was expected to possibly draw a mid-round compensation pick, but considering that he was bought by Miami for the same, it’s unlikely they will improve on that.

The other factor is Marc Bulger who was released by the Rams yesterday.  Bulger is no longer a starting option, but he will be a cheap option as a number 2.  Mark two teams off the list of possible destinations for one of Miami’s QB’s.  And that includes any speculation on a trade involving Chad Pennington.

Another trade that has an impact on the Dolphins is the Seattle trade with the Lions for OG Ryan Sims.  Sims is 26 years old and thereby younger than Dolphins on the market guard Justin Smiley.  He has 31 starts under his belt and like Smiley has a history of nagging injuries.  The Lions traded a 5th round pick for him.

Smiley isn’t much different.  No more proven than Sims on paper, same type of injury history, and a little older.  The Dolphins wanted a 3rd rounder for him.  At the time some thought maybe while others kind of laughed.  The Smiley compensation just dropped a bit…as in two rounds from what the team may have been looking for.

Like every sport and everything in life, when something of similar value goes up or down, it affects the outcome of something else.  Think of it as Ebay shopping.

If trade compensation wasn’t enough to consider, the McNabb trade also has some draft ramifications.  Many believed that the Skins would select Jimmy Clausen out of ND to run their offense.  That is obviously not going to happen now so the team may turn to OT.  If the draft OT, then that leaves Clausen on the board for teams like Seattle and Cleveland.

This is similar to pushing over Domino’s.  One falls and the rest can soon follow.  With the Skins possibly targeting OT with their spot, will the Chiefs target the next best OT or will they take safety Eric Berry instead?  If Berry is off the board early will teams change directions and try and take guys like Taylor Mays or Earl Thomas earlier than expected?  Will someone move up to try and grab an OT before they are gone?

Everything happens in a row and one deal has an outcome on another.  It’s how things work.  So while Donovan McNabb does nothing to the Phins in terms of how it affects them in the AFC, it has a lot to do with what they do this off-season.