The Orlando Brown trade in retrospect.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I still don't think that's a terribly accurate representation of what it yielded, but I digress.

I think the reason you can say the Chiefs won the trade decisively is - scoreboard.

Ronnie Stanley has played 12 games the last 2 years. Those were two years with Lamar Jackson in his prime and on as reasonable a contract as he'll ever have again. 2 years coming off Jackson's MVP season where they expected to contend.

And in both of those years they could've DESPERATELY used Orlando Brown. He'd have been an enormous benefit for them; someone that could've stepped in for Stanley and kept things humming in an offense designed in a way that really covers for his weaknesses. They'd have been a MUCH better team with OBJ than they were without him over those 2 seasons.

Meanwhile we played in an AFCCG and won a SB in our two seasons. Seasons where we were playing Andrew Wylie at RT and Brown, for all his faults, was available. he played 39 of a possible 40 games and in that time was...credible, even in an offense that empashizes his flaws.

Oh, and we got Nick Bolton, who's awesome.

I think we won this deal in a walk, especially if you're looking at it in a zero sum capacity. The deal made our team better and it made Baltimore MUCH worse due to the Stanley injuries over the last couple seasons.

I don't calculate it that way, mine is more cut and dried, talent acquired vs. talent acquired.

I think you could say the Chiefs win this trade if you just had Brown vs. the listed Ravens players (minus Roquan Smith, who I don't think deserves to be included in the OP, but was for completism's sake).

I have been different than the consensus: I think OBJ was a good tackle for us (which is why losing him to our biggest rival for cheaper is a bigger blow than ChiefsPlanet gives it credit for). A Pro Bowl left tackle for two years, especially once Mahomes figured out how to navigate the pocket with his blocking style. Once that happened, Mahomes became an MVP and Super Bowl MVP.

Balance that against a good DE, a just-now-starting guard, and a reserve tight end... and I think that's a win for the Chiefs.

Add a Pro Bowl caliber linebacker who was our best defender in the Super Bowl? And it's a slam dunk that the Chiefs came out ahead. Add in Mike Hughes, who played at a decent clip for a season.

I think the only thing that balances is out is (a.) your willingness to include Roquan Smith in the calculations, and (b.) how much you weigh the length of impact. The OBJ trade's impact is mostly very short: two seasons. Bolton will be outstanding for a decade, however.

Meanwhile Oweh, Cleveland, and Smith will all be major contributors in Baltimore for as long as Baltimore pays them. They should all have lengthy careers.