What we learned last offseason:
Looking back at last year’s big trades involving a star pass rusher, the value is pretty high. Three big-name pass rushers got traded in 2019: Jadeveon Clowney, Frank Clark, and Dee Ford. The trade details were as follows:
- Houston Texans trade Jadeveon Clowney to Seattle Seahawks for Jacob Martin, Barkevious Mingo, and a 2020 third-round pick
- Seattle Seahawks trade Frank Clark to Kansas City Chiefs for 2019 first-round pick and 2020 second-round pick; teams swapped 2019 third-round picks
- Kansas City Chiefs trade Dee Ford to San Francisco 49ers for 2019 second-round pick
The Jadeveon Clowney trade came just before the start of the season, which is why the Texans did not acquire a 2019 NFL Draft pick in the trade while the other two trades did. Clowney, while undoubtedly the biggest name of the bunch, arguably received the lowest value, netting two subpar players and a third-round draft choice. This will establish the floor for the Baltimore Ravens.
The biggest blockbuster trade was Frank Clark to the Chiefs, which involved Kansas City dealing three picks away with as high as a day-one pick and receiving one in return. Clark has been highly productive in the sack department since entering the league so his value matched the payout. This is certainly Baltimore’s best-case scenario for dealing Matt Judon.
That leaves the Dee Ford trade as the mean here, as it’s the most simplistic trade imaginable.
There’s a case to be made that Matt Judon is as good as all three players above, but for argument’s sake, we’ll say that he’s slightly behind Clowney and Clark but ahead of Ford. With all of this in mind, it’s time to ask…