Tony Scheffler, Ernie Sims on the Move in Three-Team Trade
By Editorial Staff
In the past week or so, it’s been known that the Broncos were shopping Tight End Tony Scheffler, but the end result was a bit surprising.
Tony Scheffler, along with a seventh-round pick was sent to Detroit. In return, the Broncos received a fifth-round pick from the Eagles, while the Eagles got linebacker Ernie Sims from Detroit.
The deal makes sense from the Eagles’ and even the Lions’ standpoint, but gets a bit blurry when looking through the eyes of the Broncos.
Since the loss of Stewart Bradley last pre-season, the Eagles linebacking corps. has been far less-than-stellar, and at times just flat out bad, and has been area of concern all off-season.
Sims, who has fallen out of favor with the new regime in Detroit, immediately provides the Eagles with depth at the WILL position, while strengthening the group as a whole. While Sims can still be an impact player, he is not a quick fix and the Eagles must look for help in the draft where they could snag second to mid-round guys such as Sean Lee, Navorro Bowman or Brandon Spikes.
While the Lions now have a very good two tight end set, it raises questions about the recovery of Brandon Pettigrew from ACL surgery. There has been nothing stating they have any concerns, and could have just taken the best deal to get Sims out of Detroit.
Regardless of reasoning, Scheffler provides the Lions with match-up problems whenever he is on the field, and gives young quarterback Matt Stafford just one more weapon to work with.
However, the Denver Broncos should consider themselves fleeced. Whether they wanted Scheffler gone or not, he is definitely worth more than a fifth-round pick. Add on the fact that they gave away a seventh-rounder in the deal, it makes you scratch your head.
It also makes you think that with a guy like Scheffler on the block, why didn’t teams like New England and Cincinnati jump at this opportunity. Both teams are lacking a solid tight end, and both teams have the picks to have made the trade happen, but we’ll leave that for another discussion on another day.