(Photo Credit: http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/11/21/alg_brandon%20_lloyd.jpg)With the Denver Broncos putting All-Pro receiver Brandon Lloyd on the trade market today, Jets fans should be intrigued. For a team struggling in all facets of their offense, adding a legitimate deep threat would seem to be a great move.
This is especially true considering the recent heat being placed on offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer for being too conservative. If the Jets added Lloyd before Tuesday's trading deadline, they would have no choice but to throw downfield to take advantage of his skill set.
Many may look at Lloyd's season last year and be tempted to label him a one-year wonder, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I've long been a fan of Lloyd's talent, almost stubbornly so, but he's always had the Pro Bowl ability he finally showed last season.
The main drawback for many teams interested in acquiring Lloyd is that he's a 30-year-old receiver who has played just one full season since 2005, which came last year. Perhaps that's the logic behind the Broncos asking price of just a third-to-fifth-round draft pick, which screams value.
Lloyd has been outspoken in his support of recently-demoted quarterback Kyle Orton and with Tim Tebow now at the helm in Denver and Lloyd set to hit free agency after the 2011 season, Denver may be somewhat desperate to make a move. With youth and depth at the receiver position and a need to rebuild, it makes perfect sense for the Broncos to test the waters.
With a bargain contract of $1.395 million and a reasonable asking price, Lloyd is a player the Jets should inquire about. General Manager Mike Tannenbaum is no stranger to trading draft picks for elite talent after trading a fifth-round pick for Santonio Holmes and a third-round pick (which became a second-rounder after the Jets' improbable 2011 playoff run) for Antonio Cromartie last year.
The Jets are still in win-now mode despite a 2-3 start and this marks the perfect opportunity to strike for a player of Lloyd's caliber. Plaxico Burress has been a moderate disappointment with just 13 catches for 202 yards, issues with dropped passes and a lack of chemistry with Mark Sanchez, while the trade of Derrick Mason opens up a spot in the receiving corps.
Sanchez and Lloyd would have to get on the same page quickly in order for him to make enough of an impact to help the Jets this season, but just the presence of a downfield playmaker might open up the short-to-mid passing lanes for the offense. If the two can't develop their chemistry and Lloyd leaves after the season, all it cost the Jets was a mid-round draft pick and a negligible contract.
This looks like a low-risk, high-reward situation for a Jets team that needs a spark, and Lloyd is exactly the kind of player New York could use to jumpstart their offense. While any trade involving Lloyd seems unlikely let alone one including the Jets, who haven't been reported as having interest since the news broke, it would be wise for them to at least look into making this move.
If the Jets can pull the trigger and turn their season around, we may very well look back at this trade as the reason the team made another run to the playoffs and potentially beyond in 2011.
I have still yet to figure out why Lloyd has garnered all of the attention that he has. It wasn't that long ago he was considered injury prone and washed up. Inferior quarterbacking has kept him healthy (this is his second stint with Orton; the first coming in Chicago) and he hasn't been exposed to the same game time play as other big name receivers. He might be a good fit for the Jets, but he isn't going to save anything.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the delayed response, Greg. I've always been a fan of Lloyd's physical abilities, but it's hard to deny his injury-prone past.
ReplyDeleteObviously he's already moved on the Rams, but there was little expectations of him being any sort of savior if the Jets did decide to make a move.
He would have been a nice complement to Holmes as a guy who could stretch the field while Santonio worked underneath the coverage. But it seems the Jets knew something about Burress we didn't, as evidenced by his three-TD breakout last week.
Thanks for the comment, hopefully my delay in responding (I work full-time and sometimes forget to check comments) won't deter you from starting conversations in the future.