Yahoo! Worst Trade of the Summer: Quinn for Hillis

[Scrote Squad]

Maybe the hooded sweatshirt was hanging over Josh McDaniels’ eyes the entire 2009 season. Or maybe he never took the time to watch all of the Denver Broncos’ game film from 2008. Or maybe Mike Holmgren and the Cleveland Browns’ new front office is a whole lot smarter than we realized.

Or maybe there’s no reasonable explanation for how Peyton Hillis ended up where he is – sparking the suddenly feisty Browns, and leaving Broncos fans writhing in agony over the worst trade of last offseason.

Where is Brady Quinn these days? You’ll find him scraping barnacles off the bottom of the depth chart, languishing behind Tim Tebow. Yes, that’s the guy whom McDaniels traded Hillis for – he of the career 66.8 quarterback rating and 52 percent completion rate. And it wasn’t even a straight up player-for-player deal. Denver kicked in a sixth-round pick in 2011 and a conditional pick in 2012 to sweeten the pot. Nothing like a couple of bamboo shoots under the fingernails on draft day to remind fans of a team’s brain-searing roster machinations.

Of course, you could give Hoodie Jr. a pass and say that there was no way McDaniels could have known Hillis would be a player who almost singlehandedly destroyed Hoodie Sr. (Bill Belichick) and the Patriots, en route to 220 yards from scrimmage (including 184 yards rushing) and two touchdowns – a guy who through eight games is on pace to rush for 1,288 yards and score 16 total touchdowns.

You could say McDaniels couldn’t have known, and you’d be right. He couldn’t, because McDaniels never took the time to try and know what Hillis was capable of accomplishing. Despite Hillis’ five yards per carry average and five TDs in a meager 68 rushing attempts in 2008, he didn’t get a sniff when McDaniels took over. Instead, the new regime, in its infinite wisdom, went out of its way to try almost anyone at running back other than Hillis. They drafted Knowshon Moreno, signed J.J. Arrington (then cut him and signed him again), and scooped up injury-addled veterans Correll Buckhalter and LaMont Jordan. And into the abyss Hillis went, never to be heard from again in 2009, save for 13 meaningless carries in 14 games.

The truth is, McDaniels never believed in Hillis, and the running back said as much when he joined Cleveland this offseason. Maybe only Hillis believed in himself, since nobody in the media (including me) was shooting a thumbs-up in Cleveland’s direction at the time of the deal. Just like nobody talked about Hillis when they lauded the sick talent in the University of Arkansas’ backfield in 2007, yammering non-stop about Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, and almost never saying a word about Hillis.

Hindsight is cruel in the NFL, and Hillis’ success is downright merciless for a Broncos team that can’t run the football (last in the NFL heading into this weekend) and has watched Moreno struggle to stay on the field.

So Hillis delivers the two-pronged entry this week, making Denver’s shortsightedness a loser, and Cleveland’s sheer luck a winner. I have a feeling both cities will be talking about this trade for years to come.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=cr-winnersandlosers110710

 

[Chardon]

I already posted this in the peyton hillis thread.

 

[Scrote Squad]

I already posted this in the peyton hillis thread.

Can't believe I didn't go into the 'Peyton Hillis Witness Banner' thread to look for it.

 

[theSTEREO.]

Can't believe I didn't go into the 'Peyton Hillis Witness Banner' thread to look for it.

:chuckles:

 

[bigjmac0815]

Worst trade for them.......Best trade for us

 

[layneroxxx]

The title could have read " Best Trade of the Summer by the Browns ", but they chose to go with the negative side of it.

 

[bob2the2nd]

The title could have read " Best Trade of the Summer by the Browns ", but they chose to go with the negative side of it.

I am jon stewart and I approve of this message.

 

[Silky Smooth]

I love Hillis and getting him for Quinn who sucks horribly makes it that much better. I have a crush on Hillis and I'm not afraid to admit it.

 

[Randolphkeys]

I love Hillis and getting him for Quinn who sucks horribly makes it that much better. I have a crush on Hillis and I'm not afraid to admit it.

Easy there Champ... why don't you stop talking for a while?

 

[Silky Smooth]

Easy there Champ... why don't you stop talking for a while?

I <3 Peyton Hillis!!

 

[KCOTT]

neat vid, didn't want to make a new thread

[video=youtube;04QrRLdULW4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04QrRLdULW4[/video]

 

[DDJ7777]

http://www.playerpress.com/articles...-traded-peyton-hillis-for-hitting-on-his-wife

Josh McDaniels has made some boneheaded trades since taking over in Denver, trading Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall for starters, but the biggest gaff seems to be running back Peyton Hillis, who is having a huge year with the Cleveland Browns.



And the reason he traded Hillis is even a bigger joke.



According to Mark Schlereth, a former offensive lineman for the Broncos and a current ESPN analyst, it is common knowledge around the Bronco’s organization that McDaniels traded Hillis because he hit on his wife Laura shortly after he was hired as Denver’s coach.

hahahah

 

[Bison11]

Whats great is that they threw us 2 picks....and Hillis hit on McD's wife....this is looking like the best trade ever.

 

[cdt]

Amazing trade, imagine if Holmgren and Heckert were here 5 years ago this team could be completely stacked. Our draft was an absolute grand slam. Haden and Ward are studs. McCoy looked like a legit NFL QB especially considering the subpar talent outside of Hillis to work with. Lauvao has played well after finally healing from injury. Hardesty looked promising until he got hurt, hopefully what we saw in preseason is the future 2nd head to a nice powerback duo that can just wear teams out.

The Hillis trade gets better and better every week, he's near 900 yards rushing 400 receiving, 11 rushing TD's a couple receiving TD's AND we got 2 draft picks out of the deal. Awesome.

Not to be forgotten Reggie Hodges who has been rock solid this year leading the NFL in punts inside the 10 yard line to replace the probably retiring Dave Zastudil.

 

[The Oi]

McDaniels should have been HONORED to have Hillis hit on his wife. Hell...I'd PAY him to hit on my wife. Especially if it meant I could get a shot at my sister-in-law.

Damage knows what I'm talkin bout...