When Colts’ owner Jim Irsay tweeted that “TRADE WINDS (are) BLOWING!!!” earlier this week, it wasn’t too big of a surprise. Irsay often appears to a monthly quota of semi-incomprehensible tweets to fill, and he had spent a good deal of time mostly out of the spotlight. It was about time for Irsay to grab some headlines. Far more surprising was the actual trade: The Colts sent their 2013 second round pick to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for cornerback Vontae Davis. It was an unexpected move by both teams, and it’s leaving many to wonder what the logic was behind the trade on either side.
On the Indianapolis end of the trade, you have to think that many Colts fans will come away from the trade dissapointed. After Irsay’s tweets indicated they were going to give up a high draft pick for a “serious starter”, many around the league started speculating that the Colts were targeting a player like Mike Wallace. And although the second round pick the Colts traded away is quite costly (it’s likely to be a top 40 pick), Davis isn’t quite the superstar many fans found themselves hoping for. Davis is a young corner that’s talented enough to perform well in man to man coverage, but has also been widely inconsistent. He came into camp out of shape and had just recently start to fight for his position on the starting defense. Davis isn’t a bad player by any stretch of the imagination, but is he really better than the players that will potentially be available early in the second round? As it wasn’t pointed out on miamidolphinsdraft.com, Davis wasn’t even really the best option for the Colts. Players like Cary Williams in Baltimore are already familiar with Indianapolis’ defense, and the Ravens would have likely been very willing to swap Williams for such a high draft pick. It’s not likely that Dolphin fans will be thrilled with the trade either. The general thought process behind the trade isn’t surprising: the Dolphins are in rebuilding mode, and it’s to be expected that they would try to accumulate draft pick. However, using Davis as a way to do that is unconventional to say the least. Davis, a first round draft pick in 2009, is still a young player that the franchise invested a early pick in. Even if the Dolphins end up with the top pick of the second round, they still will be losing end of things in the long term, turning a first round pick into a second rounder. Sure, Davis had shown up to camp out of shape and may not have been a week one starter for Miami. But trading Davis away makes the one good thing the Dolphins had going (their defense) weaker. It will make Ryan Tannehill’s job more difficult, as it’s more likely the opposition will be putting up points, and it adds another area for the Dolphins to address in the coming offseason.
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