OT- Lions trade Ernie Sims

Submitted by learmanj on

Per Adam Schefter's twitter,

Filed to ESPN: Three way trade -- Eagles get LB Ernie Sims, Lions get TE Tony Scheffler, Broncos get undisclosed draft pick.

My guess is probably around a fourth round pick considering Scheffler was not a high pick.

Don't know how I feel about getting rid of Sims

BigBlue02

April 19th, 2010 at 11:50 AM ^

Could be 2 1st round draft picks that flopped - what does that say about Pettigrew? That he is still injured or that he isn't the answer at TE?

learmanj

April 19th, 2010 at 11:52 AM ^

I think it more has to do with Pettigrew being injured and recovering slower than anticipated. I think Scheffler has some value as a blocker and receiver but Pettigrew had a really good first year, so I'm not worried about busting.

jokenjin

April 19th, 2010 at 12:49 PM ^

Isn't the knock on Scheffler that he's always hurt as well? While Sims may not have been an ideal fit, I think I'd much rather have him that Scheffler and we could at least move Sims around to make use of him, possibly at another OLB spot. I remember hearing that he can play the other outside backer position opposite Peterson.

Space Coyote

April 19th, 2010 at 1:20 PM ^

If I'm not mistaken he was highly looked at as a LB and RB coming out of High School. There was no doubt he was an athletic freak.

Now, I don't actually think that is a possibility in this case, but it would have been sweet to see. I don't like the trade either way.

umchicago

April 19th, 2010 at 7:39 PM ^

i'm not an nfl actuary, but it may be possible that they could be clearing some cap space and use the $ to sign a LB that fits the scheme a bit better.

however, i for one, hoped for a lot more out of sims.

Big_G

April 19th, 2010 at 11:57 AM ^

I think that this trade has less to say about Pettigrew and more to say about getting something of value out of Sims. Remember Casey Fitzsimmons has had to retire due to concussion issues. What the Lions add is a quality TE for backup and 2 TE purposes, get something of value of Sims, and insurance in case of Pettigrew's injury status. They get rid of someone who they werent going to resign and he didnt really fit their system. Still wish the Lions would have made an effort to resign Larry Foote as this leaves a hole at LB unless the Lions like Dizon or Follet enough.

learmanj

April 19th, 2010 at 11:56 AM ^

Philly sends 5th rounder to Denver. Detroit also gets a 7th rounder. Can't wait til late Saturday when the Lions have 4 worthless 7th round picks.

Big_G

April 19th, 2010 at 12:07 PM ^

Marques Colston
Donald Driver
TJ Houshmandzadeh
Matt Cassel
Cortland Finnegan
Would all like a word with you... At any rate though I'll agree that the success rate of a seventh round pick isnt very good, at least in regards to star potential In a draft that is probably the deepest in history, why not grab as many picks as you can get?

HartAttack20

April 19th, 2010 at 2:02 PM ^

I wasn't ever a big fan of Sims. I think he basically has good speed, but not a good blitzer and not great for the current defense under Schwartz. Obviously he was hurt for parts, but he had no sacks, forced fumbles, or interceptions last season. So he basically had 49 tackles in in 9 games played. Is 5 tackles per game really that productive? I don't think it's an awesome trade, but I'm perfectly fine with it.

wishitwas97

April 19th, 2010 at 3:30 PM ^

since Spikes is going to fall hard because of his really slow 40s. I normally don't take too much stock in 40s but running over 5 seconds is really really really slow for a QB. Maybe Mr. Irrelevant?

Bowman is a solid LB but apparently he has off-field issues. I don't think that the Lions are willing to take on prospects with that kind of off-field issue. They would take that risk if they are actually a good team, but since they're not. They can't afford this kind of risk.

learmanj

April 19th, 2010 at 12:07 PM ^

No matter what they do, I actually have faith in this staff. They did such a good job last (I know it's one year but it's all the evidence we have) that I am sure they can get us several starters with the first 3 picks. Especially with the deep draft this year. I almost expect 3 starters with the first three picks.

spacemanspiff231

April 19th, 2010 at 2:07 PM ^

Do you follow Lions football? If not you probably shouldn't be posting things like that on it. That project DT you're talking about is no project at all. He was a starter for us last year as a rookie. And we actually had good DT play. No, we weren't outstanding on the D-line, but for a fourth round pick, he's turned out to be high value. That gives us four rounds, including two picks in the first and third round, of starters last year. Deandre Levy, in the third round, Sammie Lee Hill in the fourth, Louis Delmas in the second, and Stafford and Pettigrew in the first give us a lot of good starters. I don't know about you, but going four rounds deep into the draft and pulling out starters is a pretty good job. And you can't make the argument that they're starters replacing Lion's players either. They were all solid and will remain starters for years.

spacemanspiff231

April 19th, 2010 at 2:01 PM ^

Deandre Levy is a very solid linebacker. The whole reason the Lions let Foote go was b/c they had Levy. I still disagree with the decision to let Foote go, as Levy could then provide actual depth which the Lions haven't had in years, but oh well. He's still solid. But we do have a glaring hole at Sim's spot now which needs to somehow be filled. I was hoping that we could get a RB and a corner with our second and third round picks, but it's almost assured now that one of them has to be spent on a linebacker.

Steve Lorenz

April 19th, 2010 at 1:03 PM ^

I think everyone has Sims' rookie season too fresh in their mind. He has been subpar for two full seasons now and doesn't fit the scheme at all. The only question I have about the deal is that we trade him and let Foote go leaving only Levy and Peterson from last year with no real solid replacements. Either they found a 2nd/3rd round player they really really like or they aren't done in free agency.

ihartbraylon

April 19th, 2010 at 1:08 PM ^

I don't think it's that bad of a trade. Scheffler is one of the better pass catching tight ends in the league. It's easier for young quarterbacks to throw to tight ends, so having two very competent ones (in a system that actually utilizes them) could be very beneficial. It would have been nice to have the starting linebackers set, but the fact is Sims didn't fit. We got a starting caliber tight end who does fit for a starting caliber linebacker who doesn't. I assume this means Mayhew will draft a larger sized linebacker better suited for the scheme, and hold an open competition for the starting job. Probably won't be better than Sims right away, but down the road it should work out.

And having four seventh round picks (three tradable ones) can be useful in 2 ways:
1. It's pretty random who ends up panning out once you get to the seventh round, so having more picks increases the chance you'll at least get one competent player.

2. You can trade the picks to move up

I gotta stand by my boy Mayhew cus hope in him is all I've got left.

blueheron

April 19th, 2010 at 1:19 PM ^

I think Scheffler grew up around Ann Arbor and played college ball somewhere in Michigan (MAC school). The details escape me, but I remember reading about him.

Sgt. Wolverine

April 19th, 2010 at 1:51 PM ^

He was a wide receiver at Chelsea (go Bulldogs), and Western converted him to a tight end. The Broncos took him in the second round, giving little old Chelsea its first-ever NFL draft pick. Even D1 talent isn't an everyday find here (we get one every once in a while), so his being a draft pick was a big deal.

He's been good about maintaining ties with CHS football, and I appreciate that. In 2008 Denver played a Thursday night game in Cleveland, and the next night Scheffler showed up at Chelsea's first-round playoff game (and spoke briefly to the team after the victory). I like it when a guy remembers where he came from.

Troy MiIler

April 19th, 2010 at 1:22 PM ^

I kind of like this trade. This allows us to run the double TE set and have two effective TE's in there, instead of just one in Pettigrew. Forcing defenses to cover both TE's and double team Calvin Johnson. Also Sims didn't really fit all that well into our defense.

spacemanspiff231

April 19th, 2010 at 2:06 PM ^

Having those two tight ends should be pretty sweet for our offense, especially since Pettigrew is recovering slowly from injury, but who are we going to replace Sims with? It doesn't matter that he didn't fit our defense, there's nobody else to play linebacker there now. That means we have to use the 2nd or 3rd round to draft someone to replace him where we really could have used those picks at other positions, or pick up some other subpar LB in free agency.

cadmus2166

April 19th, 2010 at 1:44 PM ^

This trade made sense for all 3 teams. Sims didn't fit the defensive scheme in Detroit. Josh McDaniels has very little use for pass-catching TE's in his offensive scheme in Denver. Philly needed a speedy LB. And Detroit and Denver can sure use the draft picks. I say good job to all teams involved.

Jstillz

April 19th, 2010 at 1:46 PM ^

I thought Sims was pretty good, albeit injury prone. In hindsight, he is still a much better pick than Matt Leinart would have been.