Saints Outdo Redskins, Trade Two Picks For Shockey

New Orleans moves a 2nd and 5th round pick for Jeremy Shockey. Here's the basic breakdown of this: Shockey is a bit undervalued by some after playing keep away with the unstoppably inaccurate Eli Manning. Unfortunately, Shockey is overvalued by many, many more. For being larger than life, and, ugh, white. By season's start, Shockey will be 28. The Saints are getting one more top season from Shockey and then should anticipate some decline. And that's part of the problem; the Saints shouldn't expect to compete this season. It's possible, but I doubt Shockey is the player that gets them over the hump. Sedrick Ellis is a player to build around, but moving up to acquire him cost New Orleans most of their draft. If the cardinal mistake for Washington trading for Jason Taylor was mortgaging the future when contention wasn't in sight, the cardinal mistake for New Orleans is overvaluing one player, putting too many chips in 1-2 seasons of production, and mistaking a fluke run in 2006 as their team's true talent level. more...