Rasul Douglas Traded To Bills

[Bretsky]

SEVERAL POINTS TO MAKE: first off throw this shit out the WIndow about Rasul being traded because he was a locker room problem.

Listen to Flower's interview on this; it really sounds like he was blindsided. Then go listen to Joe Barry; he absolutely loved Rasul and was blindsided as well. While the coaches said "it was a business decision and as coaches we know this can occur" there was no effort on their behalf to note they bought into this.

Next, and this was to be expected, Rasul was blindsided. Listen to his interview. He basically said Gute called him, perhaps a bit awkward...no warmup..and said...ah we traded you. Rasul hung up on him as he thought it was a Halloween prank. Then Marcia Murphy called him and verified it was legit.

It was Tuesday, and Rasul had to go and clean his locker out and get going. Tuesday nights are bare in GB; Flower tells the players to go home spend time with their family, and get away on Tuesday nights.

So what happened this Tuesday night.....several Packers....came in....on their free time to remines with Rasul. Sounds like Aaron Jones was about the first....sounds like they chatted and cried together. Then the returner and fellow secondary players.....several young guys came in to thank Rasul, and wish him their best. Wilde, Tausch, and another Packer beat (Mike Clement I think) all noted this was pretty much unheard of after a trade. And things were very somber and that went into Wednesday.


OK, enough of my rant on this, which I still feel was a shit deal IMO.....partly because they have no quality behind him (also why I'd have been ok with Preston)

Gute threw out that shit for logistics and reference the process again.....he did this knowing it hurts Green Bay. Same Mentality as that shit Brewers Hader trade.

I don't know how else to interpret this other than...Gute really doesn't care about winning this year. We should have all seen this coming when he discussed why he was not considering bringing Mercedes Lewis back. This is a full rebuild by Gute's choice.

I'm not sure why I'm even upset.....maybe it's because I think Gute was fleeced by Buffalo. and I don't want a F'ckin 3rd round draft pick for him to draft another sack of shit with....which....is the thing Gutebag seems to consistently do well....F'ck up in round 3.

Gutebag is just embracing what I suggested we do much earlier....aka....EMBRACE THE TANK

[Vincenzo]

Embrace the Tank.

[Vincenzo]

Embrace it

[Fosco33]

Daddy, chill. I called that out in post 17. Just be loose w/ the words as I use an iPhone on the forum.

I don’t disagree at all - I think he could be a good or even really good safety.

But he was found to have more value to another team than the brass thought w/ GB. Happens a lot.

Should happen more w/ a shitty team imo.

[run pMc]

I mean technically, we did get a 3rd. We gave up Rasul and a R5 to get it.

They'll play Rasul at CB, not S. They lost TreDavious White to injury, and Elam has been a R1 bust. They need competent players in the secondary. BUF has been hit by injuries. Milano is out for the year and they just lost someone on the DL, IIRC.
Long term he might be a good choice at S. He's smart and has size to play the position, but it would take some time to learn how to play it. Not something you do with a veteran mid-season.

I find it hard to believe he's the #10 CB according to PFF. Their grades are hardly perfect, but generally they are spot on. He hasn't been bad, but there have been a few times where he's been burned this year, and I think that will only increase as he ages.
His contract was pretty good considering his performance, so BUF is getting a good player for not much. They only have him for 1.5 seasons though, and Day 2 picks have value for the 4 year cost control on the contract if nothing else.

His comments to the media and locker room presence were NOT a reason to trade him, everyone has said as much. Rasul didn't say anything crazy that would get him traded, and he didn't pull a Ty Montgomery or anything. This was just business.

I'm a little surprised people are so upset about this. Yeah, he's still a good player on a good contract, but GB has players in Valentine and Stokes they want to get snaps and value out of.
Rasul being on the roster doesn't make this team a SB contender. He'll be gone when the next playoff contender window opens for this team, might as well get some value for him now.

I think the Bills got the better side of the deal, assuming the R3 is cursed. If they end up getting the next Aaron Jones or a very good 8 year starter at RG out of the draft with the pick then GB is the clear winner.
(What if they used the cap space from trading Rasul to sign Saquon lol?)

Personally, I'd prefer Rasul be on the roster, especially with the Rams coming to town. He's gone, they got some draft capital and cap space for him, let's move on.

[Vincenzo]

You kill me Bretsky. Good read tho man, especially this:

“ Gutebag is just embracing what I suggested we do much earlier....aka....EMBRACE THE TANK.”

[Bretsky]

You kill me Bretsky. Good read tho man, especially this:

“ Gutebag is just embracing what I suggested we do much earlier....aka....EMBRACE THE TANK.”

I'm here to stir pots and for entertainment value ))

[ThunderDan]

I don’t like the trade but I understand it. It makes our team worse in the short run but hopefully better longterm.

[Fritz]

I don’t like the trade but I understand it. It makes our team worse in the short run but hopefully better longterm.

Right, except I am becoming more leery of Guter’s drafting ability.

[Bretsky]

Right, except I am becoming more leery of Guter’s drafting ability.

Stop being a sally Fritz; let's just say it together. Gutebag kinda sucks in the draft.

[Fritz]

Stop being a sally Fritz; let's just say it together. Gutebag kinda sucks in the draft.

Here’s an article supporting your claim:

https://lastwordonsports.com/nfl/202...-missteps/amp/

[ThunderDan]

Right, except I am becoming more leery of Guter’s drafting ability.

That is why I used the word hopefully.

[bobblehead]

Bretsky mentions one other thing that has bugged me since preseason. The decision NOT to bring back Mercedes. For me it has nothing to do with his talent on the field at this point, but you brought in 2 rookie TEs (3 with sims later) and you don't want a pros pro showing them how its done? Douglas relentlessly studied film. Didn't bother with trash talk, just let his play talk. Was a willing tackler. Everything you want the young guys to emulate....thats who we traded.

I didn't like Gutes from the start, but couldn't argue with on field success. Now I'm starting to think he doesn't know shit about building a locker room. I won't slam the door on him just yet, but the best players on our teams were TT guys (for all you TT bashers). As the TT talent left Gutes spent a ton of money to stay competitive while the young talent didn't come through. As we lost them one by one, Bulaga, Linsley, Adams, Rodgers and soon Jones and Clark we are getting worse results. Gutes ran us against the realistic stretching of the cap to keep winning, but the cupboards were bare.

So here we are, restocking. It had to happen and it will define Gutes. I like a lot of the young talent. I think we have a shot next year to be much better. But without the Rasuls and Mercedes around to teach them, it could go a totally different way.

[Bretsky]

Bretsky mentions one other thing that has bugged me since preseason. The decision NOT to bring back Mercedes. For me it has nothing to do with his talent on the field at this point, but you brought in 2 rookie TEs (3 with sims later) and you don't want a pros pro showing them how its done? Douglas relentlessly studied film. Didn't bother with trash talk, just let his play talk. Was a willing tackler. Everything you want the young guys to emulate....thats who we traded.

I didn't like Gutes from the start, but couldn't argue with on field success. Now I'm starting to think he doesn't know shit about building a locker room. I won't slam the door on him just yet, but the best players on our teams were TT guys (for all you TT bashers). As the TT talent left Gutes spent a ton of money to stay competitive while the young talent didn't come through. As we lost them one by one, Bulaga, Linsley, Adams, Rodgers and soon Jones and Clark we are getting worse results. Gutes ran us against the realistic stretching of the cap to keep winning, but the cupboards were bare.

So here we are, restocking. It had to happen and it will define Gutes. I like a lot of the young talent. I think we have a shot next year to be much better. But without the Rasuls and Mercedes around to teach them, it could go a totally different way.

It's like Gutebag finds no value in leaders of this young team. I never though Marcedes was a great player, but he was a Great F'cking Blocker at TE and a leader on and off the field. In the last couple weeks we had all kinds of OL forgetting their assigments and whiffing. Our rushing offense is horrible for many reasons, but not having a TE with any interest in blocking is one of the big ones.

Does Gute thing our coaching staff is so strong he places no value at all in team leaders ? I sure don't. I wasn't a fan of Gute early, and the past couple years I've flipped back and forth. But lately, I'm thinking having a HOF QB like Aaron Rodgers covered up a lot of Gutebag's deficiencies. And as an effective communicator and leader, I think Gutebag has next to nothing. And I don't wanna go back here again, but the system Marcia Murphy set up, with the people he has it it, just sucks as well.

Trading Rasul, who could have several years left of good play, for what we got, to me was a desperation move that sends terrible messages inside that locker room.

I"m on the verge, of geting the keys, boarding, and starting to sell the tickets to ride the Bye Bye Gutebag Bus with me.

[Teamcheez1]

A 39 year old TE is not worth keeping. 2 catches for 24 yards on a team as bad as we are.
I liked Rasul, but IMO, he has maybe 1 or 2 good years left.
I would have tried to unload Jones and Smith this year too.

Getting rid of Gute is certainly worth discussion at the end of this year.

[Bretsky]

A 39 year old TE is not worth keeping. 2 catches for 24 yards on a team as bad as we are.
I liked Rasul, but IMO, he has maybe 1 or 2 good years left.
I would have tried to unload Jones and Smith this year too.

Getting rid of Gute is certainly worth discussion at the end of this year.

Rasul is just 29 and could have several good years left
You are missing the value of Lewis completely IMO
Odds are nobody wanted Preston or Jones or we've have two more 5th round draft picks

[Sparkey]

Rasul is just 29 and could have several good years left
You are missing the value of Lewis completely IMO
Odds are nobody wanted Preston or Jones or we've have two more 5th round draft picks

It wouldn't matter if a team was interested. The Packers didn't have the cap room available to trade Smith or Jones.

[ThunderDan]

It wouldn't matter if a team was interested. The Packers didn't have the cap room available to trade Smith or Jones.

Exactly, if we traded Jones we would have been $2,000,000 over the cap. 4 Mil over if we traded Smith.

[Bretsky]

Exactly, if we traded Jones we would have been $2,000,000 over the cap. 4 Mil over if we traded Smith.

Everybody was reporting we were trying to shop Preston and that's get Van Ness max opportunity
I'm sure there was a way; perhaps converting something to a signing bonus or something

[Patler]

General comments on remarks in this thread:

I hated to see Douglas go, but......

Moving from the 5th round to the 3rd round is more significant than has been implied. I think some of you are forgetting that there will be 10 or so compensatory draft picks awarded at the ends of the 3rd and 4th rounds. Even if the move is from #1 in round 5 to #32 in round 3, it will likely be more than 40 spots.

The added draft capital can be bundled with others in trades. Maybe from round 2 back into late round 1, both 3s to mid round 2, etc. They will now have a lot more flexibility to maneuver around in the draft.

I suspect the thinking was Douglas would be released next offseason anyway for cap management purposes. Any more wins he would aid in this year are meaningless. Might as well see if Valentine or Stokes when he returns can be the guy for 2024 and beyond. 2023 is a player evaluation year.

This was probably the right thing to dp, given the situation.