LogFAQs > #973208195

AI Trade #2

Broncos receive:
HB Dalvin Cook (88, 24)

Wildcats receive:
HB Kenyan Drake (87, 25)

Broncos will incur a $1.06 mil cap penalty to turn a $6.26 mil cap hit into an $8.32 mil cap hit

Wildcats will incur a $1.49 mil cap penalty to turn a $9.81 mil cap hit into a $5.10 mil cap hit

Drake was taken with the 1st rounder that the Broncos received from the Bears when the latter signed SS Derek Linde in RFA. Drake began as a backup, but in three seasons since, he has been inconsistent and constantly injured (missed 11, 11, and 7 games the past three seasons). He has 937 yards in four seasons with a career 3.7 YPC, having been benched by the in-season signings by players such as Knowshon Moreno, Giovanni Bernard, and Melvin Gordon. This is a change of scenery trade for both parties, but especially the Broncos who get a healthy but similarly inefficient HB in the final year of his deal that they can easily walk away from.

The Wildcats had fully intended on letting Cook ride out his contract and hoping that his incrementally improved play (yardage of 350, 812, and 1098 and YPC of 3.2, 3.4, and 3.8) could continue upward with an overhauled OL. Unfortunately, all the wheeling and dealing by the team left with them a large draft class that semi-ruined their free agency plans. The best solution was to save cap space by trading disappointing HBs in hopes that a change of scenery is what they needed. Drake's injury history and ineffectiveness was previously mentioned, but he does have higher highs in his career. The risk-reward was acceptable enough to move ahead and make the trade.

Wildcats understood the trade parameters, financial impact, histories of players involved, and what each team hoped to achieve.