Fans and Immersion owners took notice last night when Peyton Manning was traded from the Fransburg r(E)volution to the Sweet Home Gridiron Gang Sunday night. Here’s a bit of insight from GM Adam Franssen on how and why the trade went down.
Anatomy of the Trade
First the details. For Manning’s services, Sweet Home sent a 2013 2nd, a 2014 1st and a 2014 3rd to Fransburg. The getting there is interesting…
The Idea Forms
On March 11th on Facebook, Hammond casually let it be known that he, “had Russell Wilson lying around,” when talking with Enright. Wilson, an RFA, is an attractive option at QB, so we started doing our due diligence and found that Wilson scored only 40 fewer points than Manning in 2013 (17 games), and had actually outscored Manning from Weeks 12-17 (86.2-110.02).
The Move for Wilson
So we sent an offer to Batavia of a 2nd rounder for Wilson. GM Josh Hammond said that that seemed fair, but felt he could get more from a QB needy team, such as the Marauders or even Pirates. At that point, we at Fransburg HQ got nervous and realized that we actually really wanted to bring in Wilson. Thus, we sent the offer of a 1st and 5th for Wilson, Leshoure, and a 4th. Batavia accepted on April 4th.
Expendable QBs
Now we had 4 guys on the roster – Manning at $54, Wilson at $7.70, Cutler at $7.60, and Cousins at $1.10. That’s obviously too many guys and too much money at the position. We began shopping both Manning and Cutler. Manning received attention from the Marauders, but we were far apart on the value. Madtown GM Matt Giorgianni wanted to bring in Manning for a 1st rounder, and I realized that I was valuing Manning at THREE first rounders. I split the difference and offered Manning for two firsts to both Madtown and Sweet Home.
The Manning Trade
At that point, communication played a huge role. Gridiron Gang GM Jesse Garcia got back to me quickly, indicating that he couldn’t do two 1sts, but would do a 2nd in 2013 and a 1st in 2014. Given his team’s rebuilding mode, that seemed fair and I hadn’t heard back from Giorgianni, which made me think that two firsts was too rich for his blood. In Fransburg, we wrestled with the value and concluded that we had to get closer to the two 1st, and countered Garcia’s offer with the 2013 2nd, 2014 1st, and 2014 3rd that eventually got the deal done on April 14th.
Strategy
The critical factor in the trade was realizing that we probably weren’t going to
win the title in 2013. The big hitters in the league, and even in the division, are still too far ahead of us to make a legitimate run. Thus, we decided to let go of a sure-thing top-5 QB in Manning and roll with Wilson – a might-be top-5 QB in the future. In making the move, the r(E)voLUtion have essentially channeled Oakland Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie. Like McKenzie, we’ve decided to cut our losses with some expensive players and get our cap under control (this year, Fransburg is paying over $40 in dead money).
The hope at Fransburg HQ is that 2014 will be free of major cap hits, allowing us to build through both the draft and Free Agency. For now, there are more cuts and hopefully trades to come, all with a focus to set up 2014 as a year to make a run.
Impact in Beaver Nation
Although we in Fransburg will be rooting for a good draft pick in 2014, it certainly looks like winds may be shifting in Beaver Nation. GM Jason Enright has his hands full trying to massage the cap for the defending champion Pirates and now has to be looking over his shoulder at Sweet Home. With Manning on board, they are going to be able to put up some serious points. Still, the biggest threat could be the Cornshutes. GM Jon Marcot has that roster looking very imposing (assuming that they Franchise Brees) and worse, they’re in great cap shape.
Trades are sure to continue in the coming month as we run up to the start of the new league year – I can’t wait to see how other teams in the league respond to these early off-season moves!
© 2013, Adam Franssen. All rights reserved.
Awesome! I was hoping that there would be an article about this. Wilson gets a chance to start, Peyton moves to a team where he can make a real difference, and both of us ended up with 1st rounders. I love the wheeling and dealing in this league.
Nice write up. I love reading these things!
Question: How is the heck are you valuing Manning at 3 first rounders, when you didnt even give up a single first rounder to get him yourself?
Also, dont worry about the Pirates, we’ll “massage” our way under the cap, like we always do …
Well, I guess past payment doesn’t reflect current value.
For instance, if you collected baseball cards, you remember that you could buy a wax pack for like $1 and have a $5 card inside.
Or, you could trade two Top 15 WRs, a Top 15 LB, a young RB, a young TE, and 2 First Rounders for two players that were acquired with a 1st Round pick and a Free Agent bid.
Or take Trent Richardson. He was drafted with a 1st, but I paid essentially four 1st rounders for him.
In any case, it turns out I was wrong…Peyton’s value was only a 1st, 2nd, and a 3rd.
I’ll give you that your baseball card analogy works with the draft (you can draft JJ Watt in the 3rd round), but that analogy has nothing to do with this trade. We’re talking about a veteran QB who, after having a normal year for himself, in less than 6 months time, had his value rise from (2) 2nd rounders to (3) 1st rounders. Since both of these values were set by you, I was just interested in the thought process behind that. That’s all.
And I don’t see what my trade has to do with anything. But we can surely discuss it if you like.
Here’s what I was thinking:
I traded for Peyton mid-year after his neck surgery. There was tons to prove beyond “normal”. I took the risk to get there doling out two 2nds.
After a healthy season and Top-5 finish, surely his value had risen, right? Why not ask for a player that I personally valued at three 1st round picks to start the discussion? Turns out, that player was too valuable for the owner to part with, and the counter was a single 1st. That, I realized, was too little for me to part with Manning.
From there, I went with two literal first rounders in my next trade offers. That of course, worked.
Also, your trade has EVERYTHING to do with this discussion. Trades are ALL about value. You valued Keuchly and Graham (two guys picked up for a combined one draft pick) enough to dump four players and two firsts. Tom valued those guys either the same or less than you did, thus the trade.
I think that’s the hardest/best part about trades. You have to gauge value just to get the conversation started. Too low, you get robbed. Too high, you get laughed at/ignored.
I am posting here to let you know that I’m not ignoring you, but have simply lost the will to continue this conversation further. Yes, my trade, which occurred after and independently to yours, for entirely different reasons than yours did, to which had nothing to do with my initial inquiry, is now everything to your discussion.
But yes, value. (BTW, my definition of value is much different than yours)
I get your point. But I still may or may not take a dremel to your name on the trophy …
One champion talking to another about value. Can’t we just say you’re BOTH right, since you BOTH won a championship? I mean, it’s not like the Kamino Bounty Hunters are in this argument about relative trade value. That would be ludicrous.
Josh Hammond, Champion
Value? We’re talking about value? I’m sitting here, polishing my trophy and drinking a beer, and you want to ask me about value? We’re talking about value.
Oh man, I just read that and now I miss the trophy. I remember the good times we had, the trophy and me.