That first round pick we gave the Eagles

How Penning turns out is largely irrelevant to whether the trade with Philadelphia was a good one when made or should be considered a good one going forward.

In the trade, we received from Philadelphia picks 16 and 16 and a sixth-round pick, and we gave up pick 18, a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick in 2022; a first-round pick in 2023; and a second-round-pick in 2024. There is little difference in value between 18 and 19, and hardly any difference in value between six-round and seventh-round. We essentially gave up for pick 16 a first in 2023 (again, in a draft that is supposed to be quarterback-rich), a second in 2024, and a third in 2022. And let's say there is a difference in value between pick 18 and 19, then we gave up a one in 2023, a two in 2024 and still additional draft compensation less than a three for pick 16. That's serious compensation for a team that needs a future quarterback and still has salary-cap challenges going forward.

Our compensation to Washington to move up from 16 to 11 to pick Olave was very reasonable--for 11, we gave up 16, a late three, and a late four. But these picks do add up. We could have moved up from 18 to 11 to pick Olave by offering Washington 18 and something a tad higher than our late three and a late four. In effect, we gave up a 2023 one and 2024 two plus more for pick 19, which we used to pick Penning. Even if Penning turns out to be a really good player, that is far too much compensation. A Mercedes E class is a really nice car, but it is not value at $90,000.

And a reason we keep trading up and giving away draft picks is that we have every year so few draft picks because of what we have traded away.