Ravens Trade David Reed

Aug 18, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Indianapolis Colts running back Delone Carter (34) gets by New York Giants defensive end Matt Broha (54) during the second half at MetLife Stadium. Indianapolis Colts defeat the New York Giants 20-12. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

Not that I am against it, but wow. The Ravens have officially traded WR/KR David Reed to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for RB Delone Carter. Thats a pretty surprising move considering the Ravens just extended David Reed a few months ago and Reed has inexplicably been a coaching staff favorite for years.

I, for one, have never been a big fan of David Reed. He is a mediocre return man(despite leading the league in average KR yardage one year) and a fumble machine. OK, maybe “fumble machine” is a bit excessive, but I still have never been able to get past that dreadful 2 fumble game against Seattle a couple years ago. For a guy who was never a huge threat to take one all the way, you cant be fumbling the ball like that.

In exchange for Reed, the Ravens netted a solid backup RB in Delone Carter. Carter isnt anything special, but he is a decent backup with plenty of experience. That said, he wont be any higher than the third RB, if he makes the roster at all. The real prize of this trade was that the Ravens will suffer almost no cap penalty if they cut Carter, but would have incurred some penalty for cutting Reed. The Ravens cut some excess baggage and get an easily cuttable player who might have upside. I can’t argue with that.