Colbert Confirms Steelers Are Trying To Trade Morgan Burnett

[Shoes]

It’s no secret Morgan Burnett won’t be a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers for much longer, a self-imposed April 1st deadline to move him. For Kevin Colbert, it’s only a question of if they can get something for him. At today’s Owner Meetings, Colbert confirmed media reports the team is attempting to trade Burnett.

https://steelersdepot.com/2019/03/colbert-confirms-steelers-are-trying-to-trade-morgan-burnett/

[Neversatisfied]

:jerkit:

[hawaiiansteeler]

so far this is the only legitimate offer we have received for him:

https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/GUEST_f8fb1404-5f42-4a62-a5c0-e6eba1b91a67?wid=488&hei=488&fmt=pjpeg

[Steeldude]

Haha. Could it be worse than the AB trade? The Steelers will probably give Burnett and a 4th for a 6th round pick.

[DesertSteel]

so far this is the only legitimate offer we have received for him:

https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/GUEST_f8fb1404-5f42-4a62-a5c0-e6eba1b91a67?wid=488&hei=488&fmt=pjpeg

Family size? Not bad at all.

[teegre]

It wouldn’t surprise me if Colbert got a R3 for Burnett. He stole a R3 for Bryant... and only got a R3 for AB.

A R3 pick seems to be Colbert’s cost for a trade... ANY trade... no matter who the player is :lol:.

[Born2Steel]

Ross Jackson of ‘All Saints Considered’ says the Saints are interested. Looking to deal some of their late round picks for players. Possibly a 5th or 6th for Burnett there he says. Not great but better than nothing.

[86WARD]

He should have been traded long ago. There’s a plethora of safeties on the FA market, it’s no secret Burnett wants out and the Steelers want to move on...if someone wants them, he will be easy to sign after release. A team would be stupid to give anything more than a 2020 7th round pick for him.

[Born2Steel]

He should have been traded long ago. There’s a plethora of safeties on the FA market, it’s no secret Burnett wants out and the Steelers want to move on...if someone wants them, he will be easy to sign after release. A team would be stupid to give anything more than a 2020 7th round pick for him.

Maybe. Why would a team with limited cap space want to spend that cap space anyway and throw in a draft pick? I don’t know. Just passing info I had heard on the Burnett front.

[steelreserve]

(turns on megaphone)

"Attention! Everyone! ATTENTION! WE'RE ABOUT TO RELEASE THIS GUY BY THE END OF THE WEEK. YOU CAN SIGN HIM FOR FREE. DOES ANYONE WANT TO TRADE US FOR HIM INSTEAD AND ALSO TAKE OVER HIS KIND OF SHITTY CONTRACT. PLEASE STAY CALM, I KNOW THIS IS AN EXCITING OFFER, BUT WE'D APPRECIATE IT IF EVERYONE DID NOT TRY TO CALL US AT ONCE."

Not exactly the strategy for getting the best trade value; I'd be surprised if we got anything. But I would've beem surprised if we got anything in the first place, so I suppose in this case it's not too bad that we don't know how to do trades.

[Dwinsgames]

(turns on megaphone)

"Attention! Everyone! ATTENTION! WE'RE ABOUT TO RELEASE THIS GUY BY THE END OF THE WEEK. YOU CAN SIGN HIM FOR FREE. DOES ANYONE WANT TO TRADE US FOR HIM INSTEAD AND ALSO TAKE OVER HIS KIND OF SHITTY CONTRACT. PLEASE STAY CALM, I KNOW THIS IS AN EXCITING OFFER, BUT WE'D APPRECIATE IT IF EVERYONE DID NOT TRY TO CALL US AT ONCE."

Not exactly the strategy for getting the best trade value; I'd be surprised if we got anything. But I would've beem surprised if we got anything in the first place, so I suppose in this case it's not too bad that we don't know how to do trades.

conditional 2020 is about the best they could expect either way I am thinking ...someone MIGHT wanna take a chance on him for a conditional instead of having to take the long shot that he goes quickly ( ok well thats a long shot too )

colbert knows the above and doesn't wanna spend a lot of time on it is my guess so self imposed deadline lets him say well I tried , all the while not trying to hard because he already knows the outcome is bleak

[BlackAndGold]

I'm sure every team does this before they release a player.

But go ahead and overreact.

[Leopardo]

I'm sure every team does this before they release a player.

But go ahead and overreact.

Exactly. And if a team really wants a player they will give a late round draft pick, because they don't want to risk that the player ends up signing for another team once he's FA.

[steelreserve]

conditional 2020 is about the best they could expect either way I am thinking ...someone MIGHT wanna take a chance on him for a conditional instead of having to take the long shot that he goes quickly ( ok well thats a long shot too )

colbert knows the above and doesn't wanna spend a lot of time on it is my guess so self imposed deadline lets him say well I tried , all the while not trying to hard because he already knows the outcome is bleak

Like I said, I didn't expect us to get anything for him in the first place ... but announcing ahead of time that you're releasing the guy is the equivalent of turning all your cards face-up at the start of a poker hand.

More of the principle of the thing. You want to set yourself a deadline, then fine, set a deadline, just don't announce it to the entire league first. I really cannot see the point of that at all, or why everything else could not have been done the same without announcing it publicly.

[Dwinsgames]

Like I said, I didn't expect us to get anything for him in the first place ... but announcing ahead of time that you're releasing the guy is the equivalent of turning all your cards face-up at the start of a poker hand.

More of the principle of the thing. You want to set yourself a deadline, then fine, set a deadline, just don't announce it to the entire league first. I really cannot see the point of that at all, or why everything else could not have been done the same without announcing it publicly.

just answer me this .... how much longer do you have to have that HORRIBLE avatar ????

[steelreserve]

just answer me this .... how much longer do you have to have that HORRIBLE avatar ????

Mr. Bell-Luther-King-Einstein signed his contract on March 13, so by my count, 20 more days counting today!

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

Family size? Not bad at all.

I think Colbert is holding out for some sodas as well. Not everybody thinks its worth it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urH-9aesjYI

[Mojouw]

I'm sure every team does this before they release a player.

But go ahead and overreact.

Yup. This is reported dozens of times each and every off-season for multiple teams. But this place is going to react like Colbert is blazing a whole new trail.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

Yup. This is reported dozens of times each and every off-season for multiple teams. But this place is going to react like Colbert is blazing a whole new trail.

Colbert doesn't care what you guys think. He has 31 kids in the NFL General Manager group that he has to show how things are done. :ranger:

[steelreserve]

I'm sure every team does this before they release a player.

But go ahead and overreact.

I mean yeah, of course you'd look for a trade. But why announce you're about to release the guy? Just release him if you can't get anything. There's no requirement to give everyone advance warning. That's the part I don't understand.

[Fire Goodell]

uh for a 7th round comp pick? lol. If we get anything I'll be happy

[Shoes]

(turns on megaphone)

"Attention! Everyone! ATTENTION! WE'RE ABOUT TO RELEASE THIS GUY BY THE END OF THE WEEK. YOU CAN SIGN HIM FOR FREE. DOES ANYONE WANT TO TRADE US FOR HIM INSTEAD AND ALSO TAKE OVER HIS KIND OF SHITTY CONTRACT. PLEASE STAY CALM, I KNOW THIS IS AN EXCITING OFFER, BUT WE'D APPRECIATE IT IF EVERYONE DID NOT TRY TO CALL US AT ONCE."

Not exactly the strategy for getting the best trade value; I'd be surprised if we got anything. But I would've beem surprised if we got anything in the first place, so I suppose in this case it's not too bad that we don't know how to do trades.

:lol:

[munchy]

ooh, colbert is playing hardball again and saying he will do it when it benefits the steelers................lol
burnett should just tell him, 'release me now'. he'll do it............

[st33lersguy]

I doubt someone will trade for Burnett. They'll end up releasing him (in fact I am surprised they got something for Gilbert)

[teegre]

Teams trade for players (even when it’s obvious that they will be free agents) for a few reasons:

1. You don’t have to get into a bidding war with another team.

2. Similar to #1... the player already has a contract in place. You already know his price tag.

3. Teams get players regardless of where the player “wants” to play. Maybe Burnett “wants” to go to the Cowboys, but the Saints trade for him.. well, he’s a Saint. Period.

4. Trades do not count against your comp picks (I believe).

5. <1% of R6 & R7 picks make NFL rosters. At least with Burnett, the Saints’ know that he will make their roster.

[Steeldude]

Like I said, I didn't expect us to get anything for him in the first place ... but announcing ahead of time that you're releasing the guy is the equivalent of turning all your cards face-up at the start of a poker hand.

More of the principle of the thing. You want to set yourself a deadline, then fine, set a deadline, just don't announce it to the entire league first. I really cannot see the point of that at all, or why everything else could not have been done the same without announcing it publicly.

But remember, the Steelers always know what they are doing. Fans are always wrong.

[Dwinsgames]

4. Trades do not count against your comp picks (I believe).




cut players do not count either ....

[steelreserve]

Teams trade for players (even when it’s obvious that they will be free agents) for a few reasons:

1. You don’t have to get into a bidding war with another team.

2. Similar to #1... the player already has a contract in place. You already know his price tag.

3. Teams get players regardless of where the player “wants” to play. Maybe Burnett “wants” to go to the Cowboys, but the Saints trade for him.. well, he’s a Saint. Period.

4. Trades do not count against your comp picks (I believe).

5. <1% of R6 & R7 picks make NFL rosters. At least with Burnett, the Saints’ know that he will make their roster.

With all due respect for Burnett, any "bidding war" for his services is going to be more like a race to the bottom. I don't think anyone in their right mind is going to give him more than the hefty salary increase that is already on his contract this year.

The comp picks do not come into play here, I believe - that's only for players with expiring contracts. (edit: oh yeah, and if <1% of R6-7 picks made the team, that would be like 1 player every 2 years in the whole league. It's probably more like 10%, but I get it, they suck.) The only part tthat makes sense is the certainty of getting the player.

I mean, this is not exactly high stakes we are talking about in this case, I just don't think we have done ourselves any favors this offseason by announcing "we are done with player X" ahead of actually trying to get anything of value for that player from other teams. Well, if I know that, of course I'm going to start by throwing you junk and hoping you swing at it, just like we did with Brown. That's the real example of this backfiring. At least keep up the pretense, dumbasses.

[Mojouw]

Here is what I don't get in these types of discussions. Are we grading from a point where 31 other NFL teams do the exact same thing or are we just ignoring that and grading the Steelers against our own reality? Because we should realize that those two circumstances have totally different end grades, right?

This is exactly how and why conditional 6th and 7th rounders get traded every off-season. Hell, the Steelers did it with Gilbert. I mean some are essentially arguing that 31 other NFL GM's are incapable of doing simple addition and subtraction and can not determine if a team will release a guy or not until that team announces it. Really? Half this board claims annually that they are "certain" so and so will get cut or that this guy or that guy will get to the FA market. But, the folks that get paid oodles and oodles of money to do this for a living are confused? And that doesn't even count the players that are "if we can't trade him before X we will have to release him" each year.

Think the logic through from the other end. A team announces they are going to trade a player. What do you think they are going to do if they don't get an offer they like? Outside of high-level starters, they are going to release the guy. So the announcement is basically the same thing and carries the same information - come get him if you want him, if not wait 2 weeks and roll the dice on the open market.

There are tangible issues surrounding this football team, but what seems to make people the angriest are largely invented process issues. I can't wrap my head around it.

[steelreserve]

Here is what I don't get in these types of discussions. Are we grading from a point where 31 other NFL teams do the exact same thing or are we just ignoring that and grading the Steelers against our own reality? Because we should realize that those two circumstances have totally different end grades, right?

This is exactly how and why conditional 6th and 7th rounders get traded every off-season. Hell, the Steelers did it with Gilbert. I mean some are essentially arguing that 31 other NFL GM's are incapable of doing simple addition and subtraction and can not determine if a team will release a guy or not until that team announces it. Really? Half this board claims annually that they are "certain" so and so will get cut or that this guy or that guy will get to the FA market. But, the folks that get paid oodles and oodles of money to do this for a living are confused? And that doesn't even count the players that are "if we can't trade him before X we will have to release him" each year.

Think the logic through from the other end. A team announces they are going to trade a player. What do you think they are going to do if they don't get an offer they like? Outside of high-level starters, they are going to release the guy. So the announcement is basically the same thing and carries the same information - come get him if you want him, if not wait 2 weeks and roll the dice on the open market.

There are tangible issues surrounding this football team, but what seems to make people the angriest are largely invented process issues. I can't wrap my head around it.


There's not much to wrap your head around.

"Why say anything?" That's really all there is to it.

You can argue at length about how it's probably not that harmful and other teams probably do it all the time. But tell me - what is the advantage of saying "we're about to release this guy, any trade offers?" instead of simply "we're listening to trade offers for this guy?" There isn't any. Why not just keep your mouth shut about the releasing part until you do it.

Maybe the other GMs are all smart enough to figure it out, maybe not. The folks that get paid to do this for a living fuck up ALL the time. Is it really outside the realm of possibility that all 31 other teams might not have the right read on EVERY player's value and his odds of being released/traded/extended/some other move? As many people love to say, "all it takes is one team dumb enough to make an offer."

I just don't see why if you were a GM, you wouldn't take any chance you could get of gaining an advantage, even if it's a slim one. You get paid oodles and oodles of money to do this for a living, after all.

[Mojouw]

There's not much to wrap your head around.

"Why say anything?" That's really all there is to it.

You can argue at length about how it's probably not that harmful and other teams probably do it all the time. But tell me - what is the advantage of saying "we're about to release this guy, any trade offers?" instead of simply "we're listening to trade offers for this guy?" There isn't any. Why not just keep your mouth shut about the releasing part until you do it.

Maybe the other GMs are all smart enough to figure it out, maybe not. The folks that get paid to do this for a living fuck up ALL the time. Is it really outside the realm of possibility that all 31 other teams might not have the right read on EVERY player's value and his odds of being released/traded/extended/some other move? As many people love to say, "all it takes is one team dumb enough to make an offer."

I just don't see why if you were a GM, you wouldn't take any chance you could get of gaining an advantage, even if it's a slim one. You get paid oodles and oodles of money to do this for a living, after all.

it is the same statement. We are going to release this guy if we can't trade him. We are going to trade this guy and if that doesn't work, he's getting cut.

This is like when this place explodes about the draft based on a reality that has never taken place where NFL teams regularly draft 7 home run picks each year.

Every.single.team.does.this. Why is it a big deal then?

When the Steelers coaching staff does something as perceived as off the beaten path it is bad. When they follow the standard blueprint it is bad. When the franchise directly answers a question it is bad. When they dodge a question it is bad. It makes me wonder if the evaluation criteria being used are an ever shifting target that is totally unrealistic.

[steelreserve]

it is the same statement. We are going to release this guy if we can't trade him. We are going to trade this guy and if that doesn't work, he's getting cut.

This is like when this place explodes about the draft based on a reality that has never taken place where NFL teams regularly draft 7 home run picks each year.

Every.single.team.does.this. Why is it a big deal then?

When the Steelers coaching staff does something as perceived as off the beaten path it is bad. When they follow the standard blueprint it is bad. When the franchise directly answers a question it is bad. When they dodge a question it is bad. It makes me wonder if the evaluation criteria being used are an ever shifting target that is totally unrealistic.

I just don't think we are any good at trades. I mean, name even one trade in like, the past 15 years where we clearly came out the winner. No, really:

https://steelersdepot.com/2018/03/trading-history-of-steelers-gm-kevin-colbert/

Maybe the McDonald trade if he stays healthy?

(No, lucking into Antonio Brown with a 6th-round pick does not mean we "won" the Holmes trade, it means we straight-up dumped a high-profile player for junk draft picks and got incredibly lucky after the fact. One other trade not on that list is Martavis Bryant, which happened after the article was posted - but let's face it, any value we got for him was largely based on the fact that we knew he was going to get suspended and the other team didn't (and in any case we had to use a higher draft pick than we got in return for a replacement WR (whose odds of replacing him look kind of shaky.)))

So anyway, the point being, when you have a pretty uninspiring track record at something, people will question how you're doing it, including any little things that, while minor, still could be mistakes. And all this in the shadow of a big-time mistake that was just made a couple of weeks ago.

[Mojouw]

I just don't think we are any good at trades. I mean, name even one trade in like, the past 15 years where we clearly came out the winner. No, really:

https://steelersdepot.com/2018/03/trading-history-of-steelers-gm-kevin-colbert/

Maybe the McDonald trade if he stays healthy?

(No, lucking into Antonio Brown with a 6th-round pick does not mean we "won" the Holmes trade, it means we straight-up dumped a high-profile player for junk draft picks and got incredibly lucky after the fact. One other trade not on that list is Martavis Bryant, which happened after the article was posted - but let's face it, any value we got for him was largely based on the fact that we knew he was going to get suspended and the other team didn't (and in any case we had to use a higher draft pick than we got in return for a replacement WR (whose odds of replacing him look kind of shaky.)))

So anyway, the point being, when you have a pretty uninspiring track record at something, people will question how you're doing it, including any little things that, while minor, still could be mistakes. And all this in the shadow of a big-time mistake that was just made a couple of weeks ago.

Fair enough. But name an NFL trade that the team giving up the player "won". The NFL is not a league where guys get traded for "good reasons" all that often. Guys get traded in situations where the trading team is by definition going to take it in the teeth.

Herschel Walker trade was good for the team trading the player.
Brandon Cooks trade was good for the team trading the player.
Khalil Mack trade was good for the team trading the player.
Maybe the Beckham trade, although I would argue that Beckham is worth more.

Honestly, most of the rest of them suck for the team trading the player. Once you reach the point in the NFL that you are trading a guy, you are doing it for a small set of reasons (distraction, can't afford the guy, guy got pushed out of his starting spot by a better player and now he makes too much money, or the dude sucks now) that all point towards you having little leverage. What's the point in farting around and arguing over semantics?

Everyone knows Burnett was getting cut. Everyone knows that you can have him in trade for anything above a box of kicking tees. Standard NFL operating procedure for releasing/ridding yourself of a player you simply no longer want on your roster.

[fansince'76]

I just don't think we are any good at trades. I mean, name even one trade in like, the past 15 years where we clearly came out the winner.

Getting a 3rd for Bongtavis was pretty good, I thought.

[steelreserve]

Fair enough. But name an NFL trade that the team giving up the player "won". The NFL is not a league where guys get traded for "good reasons" all that often. Guys get traded in situations where the trading team is by definition going to take it in the teeth.

Herschel Walker trade was good for the team trading the player.
Brandon Cooks trade was good for the team trading the player.
Khalil Mack trade was good for the team trading the player.
Maybe the Beckham trade, although I would argue that Beckham is worth more.

Honestly, most of the rest of them suck for the team trading the player. Once you reach the point in the NFL that you are trading a guy, you are doing it for a small set of reasons (distraction, can't afford the guy, guy got pushed out of his starting spot by a better player and now he makes too much money, or the dude sucks now) that all point towards you having little leverage. What's the point in farting around and arguing over semantics?

Everyone knows Burnett was getting cut. Everyone knows that you can have him in trade for anything above a box of kicking tees. Standard NFL operating procedure for releasing/ridding yourself of a player you simply no longer want on your roster.

Jay Cutler. The Broncos made a killing on that one. Richard Seymour or any number of times the Patriots or other teams fleeced the Raiders. Jimmy Graham .. I mean, there are examples of it.

It's true most of the trades are the other kind, dumping players you don't want for some reason in exchange for low-round junk. The "winning" trades where you give up the player are rare unless it's a big-name star (but we got shit on in one of those too).

I would've hoped we would be on the winning end of more of the "we give up a fifth-round pick, you give us a player you don't want" trades, but mostly we seem to be the ones giving up talent for junk, and the players we get for our junk barely even get on the field.

Anyway, the point of arguing over semantics is that while the stakes for Burnett are certainly the lowest of the penny-ante shit - there is still a non-zero chance that you could have gotten a shitty draft pick but now will get no draft pick at all. Unless we're saying those draft picks don't matter, but I thought we were saying they do.

[Mojouw]

Jay Cutler. The Broncos made a killing on that one. Richard Seymour or any number of times the Patriots or other teams fleeced the Raiders. Jimmy Graham .. I mean, there are examples of it.

It's true most of the trades are the other kind, dumping players you don't want for some reason in exchange for low-round junk. The "winning" trades where you give up the player are rare unless it's a big-name star (but we got shit on in one of those too).

I would've hoped we would be on the winning end of more of the "we give up a fifth-round pick, you give us a player you don't want" trades, but mostly we seem to be the ones giving up talent for junk, and the players we get for our junk barely even get on the field.

Anyway, the point of arguing over semantics is that while the stakes for Burnett are certainly the lowest of the penny-ante shit - there is still a non-zero chance that you could have gotten a shitty draft pick but now will get no draft pick at all. Unless we're saying those draft picks don't matter, but I thought we were saying they do.

The draft picks do matter. But I just can not be convinced the order of operations with Burnett makes a lick of difference. Hell, you can likely mess around with the structure of an Eric Berry deal and get him for the same cap hit that Burnett would carry in a trade. It isn't like anyone was going to beat a path to their door when they said, "Burnett for sale! Oft injured 30ish safety for sale!". Burnett had 2018 to prove he was healthy and back to being a playmaker. He and the Steelers lost that gamble and it is unlikely that another NFL team is going to sign up for the same gamble until after the draft. Tre Boston still doesn't have a home, and he had a far better year than Burnett.

I think more important things to worry about for the Steelers is whether or not they are going into this draft season understanding why seemingly good draft picks fail to flourish consistently in their system.

Dupree has all the tools and by all accounts works hard, but it just hasn't happened for him. He has developed into above average, but you want more from a #1 pick.
Burns has just disintegrated. Okay, blame scouting and say the mentality and the fundamentals were simply never there.
What about Sutton? By all accounts a fundamentally sound, high football IQ player, and a hard worker. Who, right now, doesn't belong on an NFL field.
What about Sean Davis? Blessed with abundant physical ability. Supposed to be a quick study. Often looks like he has ZERO situational awareness.

The development of Watt, Tuitt, Hargrave, Juju, Shazier (he got better every year), Heyward, AB, Bell, Conner, etc. demonstrates to me that this group of coaches can develop players. But why not some of them? That is the key question for the franchise. Now maybe it is just the "luck of the draw" and the draft is an inexact science and all that. Or maybe there is a hidden issue or issues. I don't really care, but the team should and should work towards getting more bang for their buck.

[hawaiiansteeler]

Getting a 3rd for Bongtavis was pretty good, I thought.

that was definitely a win for us.

Bongtavis and Mr Big Chest for Mason Rudolph, a 3rd and a 5th doesn't sound nearly as one-sided though.

[teegre]

With all due respect for Burnett, any "bidding war" for his services is going to be more like a race to the bottom. I don't think anyone in their right mind is going to give him more than the hefty salary increase that is already on his contract this year.

The comp picks do not come into play here, I believe - that's only for players with expiring contracts. (edit: oh yeah, and if <1% of R6-7 picks made the team, that would be like 1 player every 2 years in the whole league. It's probably more like 10%, but I get it, they suck.) The only part tthat makes sense is the certainty of getting the player.

I mean, this is not exactly high stakes we are talking about in this case, I just don't think we have done ourselves any favors this offseason by announcing "we are done with player X" ahead of actually trying to get anything of value for that player from other teams. Well, if I know that, of course I'm going to start by throwing you junk and hoping you swing at it, just like we did with Brown. That's the real example of this backfiring. At least keep up the pretense, dumbasses.

It’s what they did with Marcus Gilbert. :noidea: I’m not talking about a huge bidding war and/or high stakes, but if Burnett wants to play for the Cowboys, and the Saints want him, trading away a R6 pick (who’s likely to get cut anyway) ensures that the Saints get their guy (for a set price).

The Cardinals “could” have waited for Gilbert to hit free agency, but they made sure that they got him. Maybe the Saints do the same, maybe they don’t.

[tube517]

Please change title of this thread to "Colbert confirms Steelers are trying to trade a hostage"

[steelreserve]

It’s what they did with Marcus Gilbert. :noidea: I’m not talking about a huge bidding war and/or high stakes, but if Burnett wants to play for the Cowboys, and the Saints want him, trading away a R6 pick (who’s likely to get cut anyway) ensures that the Saints get their guy (for a set price).

The Cardinals “could” have waited for Gilbert to hit free agency, but they made sure that they got him. Maybe the Saints do the same, maybe they don’t.

Well, this is really a lot of debating over something that matters very little ... I personally think that, like, maybe 1 out of 5 times you might cost yourself a R6 or R7 pick by announcing your intentions first. And whatever team with low-level interest decides they'd rather make their own low-stakes gamble on getting a better deal signing him outright. But most of the time it'll work out like you said. Not the hugest deal in the world.

I think a variation of this same strategy, however, got us absolutely bent over on the Brown trade. Our posture there - "Hey everybody, we are going to get rid of this guy come hell or high water" - did us no favors. Just say "Hmm, we're listening to offers, but are prepared to go to the mat with the player if we don't get something we like." Even if you're just saying that publicly and behind the scenes it's completely different - don't turn over all your fucking cards at the start of the hand. We probably cost ourselves a first-round draft pick that way.

Oh yeah, and certainly don't call other teams and lead with a lowball offer yourself, like Colbert did with the Raiders. "Hey, I see you've got three first-round draft picks, including two late ones that are just begging to be traded - will you give us something lower?" I mean, really, what the fuck is that? You learn to negotiate better than that when you're an 8-year-old trading baseball cards. That's why I'm really mad - not the Burnett thing, but that it brings up the vaguely related stupid tactics we used in the other, much more important trade.

[munchy]

id hold on to burnett until the last possible moment just to screw him over to sign with another team for decent money

[hawaiiansteeler]

id hold on to burnett until the last possible moment just to screw him over to sign with another team for decent money

Steelers are a classy organization, we don't operate that way.

[steelreserve]

id hold on to burnett until the last possible moment just to screw him over to sign with another team for decent money


Steelers are a classy organization, we don't operate that way.

Yeah, he didn't do anything wrong, just wasn't a very good signing.

[86WARD]

I’m not sure he was used correctly either...

[st33lersguy]

Standard practice from teams, usually though it doesn't work out and I can't see the upside in trading for Morgan Burnett and his contract

[teegre]

Well, this is really a lot of debating over something that matters very little ... I personally think that, like, maybe 1 out of 5 times you might cost yourself a R6 or R7 pick by announcing your intentions first. And whatever team with low-level interest decides they'd rather make their own low-stakes gamble on getting a better deal signing him outright. But most of the time it'll work out like you said. Not the hugest deal in the world.

I think a variation of this same strategy, however, got us absolutely bent over on the Brown trade. Our posture there - "Hey everybody, we are going to get rid of this guy come hell or high water" - did us no favors. Just say "Hmm, we're listening to offers, but are prepared to go to the mat with the player if we don't get something we like." Even if you're just saying that publicly and behind the scenes it's completely different - don't turn over all your fucking cards at the start of the hand. We probably cost ourselves a first-round draft pick that way.

Oh yeah, and certainly don't call other teams and lead with a lowball offer yourself, like Colbert did with the Raiders. "Hey, I see you've got three first-round draft picks, including two late ones that are just begging to be traded - will you give us something lower?" I mean, really, what the fuck is that? You learn to negotiate better than that when you're an 8-year-old trading baseball cards. That's why I'm really mad - not the Burnett thing, but that it brings up the vaguely related stupid tactics we used in the other, much more important trade.

Exactly... people are making a big deal out of something that is like a fart in the night: unless your sheets get covered with sh!t, you probably wouldn’t even notice.

Burnett : AB :: apples : oranges

[steelreserve]

Exactly... people are making a big deal out of something that is like a fart in the night: unless your sheets get covered with sh!t, you probably wouldn’t even notice.

Burnett : AB :: apples : oranges

Well, we're covered in shit already, and we're still slapping out farts. (Thank you for putting this in relatable terms.)

The Burnett situation and the AB trade are for completely different reasons with completely different expectations, but the one thing in common is the mistake that we made, which is giving away all our information up front. It won't hurt us in the Burnett thing, but it KILLED us in the Brown trade.

Similarly, NOT making that mistake is what let the Bryant trade to be so arguably "good" by comparison. What do you think would have happened if we'd come out and said "We're tired of this guy's shit and are pretty sure he'll get another drug suspension, so we're trying to get rid of him at any price - ANYONE WANT TO GIVE US A THIRD-ROUNDER FOR HIM?" But instead, we actually got almost the same for that dickhead as for Brown.

It's like, if it's to your benefit to be secretive, and you know that, why not be? The Burnett thing is like a ninja sneaking into the compound to kill some yakuza underling, and doing one of those wall-corner-hang things over the doorway, and right as the guy walks in, the ninja cuts a loud dirty fart and blows his cover, and he has to run away. The AB trade was the same thing, only the mob boss walks in with all his henchmen, and right as they're passing underneath, the ninja pulls out a megaphone and shouts "I'M GOING TO FART NOW," and then he has explosive diarrhea and they all get poop on their heads, and they look up at him and all draw their guns and empty a full clip into him. Which I guess is funny if you're watching it happen to someone else, but man I wouldn't want to be the ninja.