Making the Richard Seymour trade even better

The Richard Seymour trade is insane enough as it is. Only a team on the cusp of Super Bowl contention should pull the trigger on trading future first round picks for veterans about to enter the wrong side of the 30. I don't believe the Raiders are on the cusp of Super Bowl contention. Seymour is also a free agent at the end of the year, and as of now hasn't even reported to the Raiders. It sure looks like he will, at most, play one season for the Raiders, then bolt as a free agent. In other words, he'll be long gone by the time that first round pick comes due.

But what really makes this trade an all-time great, in my view, is the fact that the Raiders made it possible for the Patriots to trade Seymour in the first place. Back on draft day the Raiders had the 40th pick and traded it to New England, which used the pick on Boston College DT Ron Brace. If the Patriots didn't have Brace on the roster, they probably wouldn't have traded Seymour. They are trying to win a Super Bowl, after all, and they need defensive linemen to do that. In other words, the Raiders not only traded for Seymour but helped the Patriots draft his replacement.

Of course it's not that cut and dried. The Patriots had the 49th pick and may have taken Seymour's replacement then. Obviously if you change one thing about history, you change everything. But you have to appreciate how this insane trade by the Raiders was made possible by...the Raiders.

Here's the final tally on the Raiders-Patriots trades from this off-season:
Patriots:
2011 first round pick
40th pick (Boston College DT Ron Brace)
DE/OLB Derrick Burgess

Raiders:
DE/DT Richard Seymour
49th pick (Ohio S Michael Mitchell)
124th pick (Florida WR Louis Murphy)
199th pick (Missouri DE Stryker Sulak, released before training camp)

A year from today there's a very good chance Seymour will no longer be a Raider, leaving the Raiders with Mitchell and Murphy, while the Patriots will still have a first round pick coming plus Brace (who knows if Burgess will still be on the roster).