The New Orleans Saints traded their offensive tackle, Jammal Brown, to the Washington Redskins on Saturday in return for some draft picks. In doing so, the Saints managed to unload Brown, who has been outspoken about his displeasure with his current contract and his being forced to compete for the role of starter next season.
The Saints’ compensation for Brown will depend on several factors. The trade is tied to an earlier one in April in which Donovan McNabb was sent to the Redskins from the Philadephia Eagles. If McNabb gets the Redskins nine wins or to the playoffs, or if McNabb makes the all-star Pro Bowl, New Orleans will get Washington’s fourth-round pick. If he fails, the Saints receive Washington’s third-round pick, but will have to give Washington their fifth-round pick for the 2011 draft. McNabb making the Pro Bowl is perhaps more likely than Washington making the playoffs, as they finished a disappointing 4-12 last year.
A sixth-round pick for 2012 will also depend on how much Brown plays. If he plays more than 90 per cent of next year or makes the Pro Bowl, Washington will be forced to send a sixth-round pick to New Orleans. Both are questionable, although Brown has made the Pro Bowl twice before, in 2006 and 2008. But he is also recovering from major injuries to his hip and hernia that sidelined him for the entire 2009 season.
An Unhappy Player
Brown will be happy to leave New Orleans, where he was unhappy about the prospect of having to compete for his starter role now that he’s back from injury. Jermon Bushrod filled his position admirably in his absence, starting 15 games out of 16 and having one of his strongest years ever.
The other sticking point with Brown was his displeasure with his current contract tender offer, which he thought was inadequate. He’d been skipping team voluntary workouts as a form of protest. Despite this, he told the Washington Post he was very happy to be a Washington Redskin.
"I've been wanting this to happen for the past couple of months, but we just had to let everything play out, let the draft get done, let everything settle where it needs to settle. I talked to my agent earlier this week. He told me we were going to go for the big punch now. We went for it, and now I'm a Redskin. I couldn't be in a better situation,” said Brown.
His main concern remained about feeling underappreciated. Although, when asked by the Post about whether people had forgotten about him, he promised to make them remember.
"If they have, I can easily remind them this upcoming year. They won't forget about me for long."
Redskins Get Another Piece of the Rebuilding Puzzle
With the acquisition of McNabb in April, and now Brown, the Redskins are continuing to build up their team to recover from last year’s weak showing and make a run at the playoffs. They are effectively gambling on Brown, who will have to get back into the sport after a full year’s absence.
Brown will also be under a dramatically reformed coaching staff, with Mike Shanahan replacing fired coach Jim Zorn at the beginning of the year.
The Dallas Cowboys were also reportedly interested in Brown. The Cowboys and Redskins are divisional rivals, and so getting him would have prevented a rival team from using his services, but they were unable to close the deal. Had they acquired Brown, that would likely have meant using him to replace current offensive tackle Doug Free.
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