Today In Patriots History September 6, 2009: Richard Seymour traded to Oakland Raiders

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Today in Patriots History
Belichick trades Seymour to Raiders​

The New England Patriots trade Richard Seymour to the Oakland Raiders for a 2011 first round draft pick, eight days before the start of their 2009 season. Seymour, who was a month shy of his 30th birthday, was on track to become a free agent the following spring. He balked at the 3,000 mile move, from a perennial super bowl contender to a team that was about to have its seventh consecutive double-digit losing season.

Seymour did not report to his new team for six days, and that happened only after the Raiders placed him on the exempt/left squad list, and sent a letter with a threatening tone. The notice ordered him to report or else he would be placed on the reserve/left squad list - which would prevent him from playing for any team in 2009, and therefore prevent him from achieving free agency until he played out the final year of his existing 2010 contract.

This trade was also big deal for the Patriots due the fact that 2009 was the first time that Bill Belichick was not working alongside Scott Pioli, going all the way back to 1992 with the Cleveland Browns. It was Pioli who as Vice president of Player Personnel had executed the 2007 trades for Randy Moss and Wes Welker, and had been hired as the General Manager for the Kansas City Chiefs in January of 2009.

The following spring the Patriots used that Oakland draft pick on OT Nate Solder. Meanwhile the Raiders slapped the franchise tag on Seymour in 2010, then in 2011 signed him to a a two-year, $30 million contract extension that made him the NFL's highest paid defensive player.

The Daily Blog 9/7/09

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Imagine Richard Seymour playing for the Oakland Raiders.​

Granted, that's now a reality, but hear me out on this. Pretend he's been in Oakland doing all the same things we watched him do here. Pretend that they revere him out there the same way we did while he was wearing a Patriot uniform. Heck, even pretend that you can give people 5 reasons why he wasn't overrated and worth every penny he was ever given as a member of the Patriots.​

Now ask yourself, would you give up a 1st round pick to get him?​

Good, I'm not the only one wondering this.​

Strangely enough, Al Davis apparently thought this was a good enough value to pull the trigger and bring the All-Pro to Oakland. If I'm Bill Belichick I'm trying to hold back my excitement during my conversation with Davis before he comes to his senses and realizes that maybe a 2nd or 3rd round pick would have made more sense.​

After all, Seymour (29) is in the final year of his contract and considering how bad things are in Oakland, that pick in 2011 could potentially be a top 15 selection. We all know the type of stability he could bring to their defensive line, but that seems to be a huge price to pay. Don't get me wrong, I've always felt Seymour was a guy who was underappreciated while he was here. Each game he always found ways to make plays despite the fact he was generally facing more than one blocker and always someone opposing offenses needed to account for. His loss is significant, and if I'm a Raiders fan I'm feeling much better about my run defense.​

But a first round pick? I don't quite know about that, and I'm having my doubts whether that crazy old man did the right thing, and I'm even possibly starting some sort of movement to have Davis stopped from any further decision-making with my team.​

How Seymour transitions into that defense out in Oakland should be interesting, provided he can get past the circus and all the other nonsense that seems to go on out there. After the whole incident between head coach Tom Crable and Randy Hanson, where Crable punched Hanson in the jaw and sent him to the hospital, I'm wondering how the whole morale situation is in general. I'm wondering what it's going to be like to be in team meetings because I don't know if I could work in somewhere for/with a guy who punched me in the face. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think I could.​

They play in a bad division, (the San Diego Chargers got into the playoffs at 8-8 last year) so I guess depending on how things go anything can happen. But is he enough to help get them to the playoffs? I just don't know.​

Seymour will help them, there's no question about that, and they definitely need it. The Raiders have been terrible against the run over the years, having never been better than 22nd since 2003 in run defense. Unfortunately it also takes more than one guy to make an impact, and Oakland doesn't exactly have the players to make plays should Seymour face the same double teams and blocking schemes he did here.​

Personally, I think this is a tremendous deal for the Patriots, which by 2011 should set them up nicely for the future. Give Belichick credit for knowing that obviously something had to give and a decision needed to be made. He's got other younger guys in Vince Wilfork, Ty Warren, etc. to try and keep intact, and hopefully that was a reason why this deal was consumated. If that's the case, now he's also even got a first round selection to go along with it.​

Out in Oakland, oddly enough they seem to be excited. But I guess if things have been that bad for so long, I suppose you would cling to any glimmer of hope your organization can give you. Just tell me how they're feeling in 2011 as the whole first round ticks away and they don't have anyone to show for it. Then we'll find out just how good a deal they think it was.​

Seymour Trade Makes Belichick Accountable

Just how many of us are as accountable in life as Belichick is?

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I wrote it after the draft in April and the words still ring true. Give the Patriots credit. They are never, ever boring.​

The latest installment in "When Playing For BB, It Is Best To Rent And Not Own" is the stunning trade of Richard Seymour to the Oakland Raiders for a 2011 first-round pick. The move makes winning a Super Bowl this year a little more difficult yet gives the Patriots a huge chip to play in future years. The possibility of re-signing the 29-year old player after his contract expired this season was remote. The $3.85 million that now comes off the team's 2009 salary cap can theoretically now be used towards signing bonuses for upcoming free agents like Vince Wilfork.​

Wow.​

Just…wow.​

Given the nature of the Raiders, in two years the pick could be a top-five pick and turn into an amazing flip for a year of service by an all-pro defensive lineman. Make no mistake. This will make the Patriots weaker on a defense that already has a lot of open-ended questions heading into the 2009 season. The strength of the defensive line was not one of those questions. Suddenly, it is one.​

The key element to understand about the trade is that with one man firmly in charge, the Patriots are one of the few teams in the League that can afford the luxury of making such a risk-taking move. Bill Belichick's job is not in jeopardy anytime soon and frankly, who are we to question his personnel moves?​

Sure, there's been some stinkers over the years like the Alex Smith trade or the perennial offseason cornerback free agent signing that smells like week-old tuna salad. But when it comes to the big ones, Belichick invariably always hits. Milloy, Law, McGinest, Branch, Coates, Vrabel, Bledsoe---"you can go right down the line" as the Hooded One would say at his always captivating press conferences.​

The new interesting dynamic at play here is that Scott Pioli is not around anymore to stand up to Belichick when it comes to personnel moves. How this manifests itself in the coming years remains to be seen. Will there be more of these moves than in year's past with no counterweight in Foxboro?​

Every time one of these shockers comes down, it reinforces the fact that most fans and followers of the team—present company included—don't have the stomach to get past the emotional attachment that we have with these players. And of course, it wouldn't be one of us that is the constant subject of messageboards, columnist and pundits. We just go on with our lives.​

Tonight, Bill Belichick is accountable for his actions. Just how many other people —whether in football or elsewhere — have the guts to do just that?​

Patriots trading Richard Seymour to the Raiders!!!

MikeReiss Patriots trading Richard Seymour to the Raiders today, according to a league source. More to come. via twitter

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Thread 'Patriots trading Richard Seymour to the Raiders!!!'

Sep 6, 2009

MikeReiss Patriots trading Richard Seymour to the Raiders today, according to a league source. More to come.

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Bob George, September 6, 2009:

Oakland Raids Patriots For Seymour

The David Terrell Fan Club ceased and desisted a long time ago.

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The David Terrell Fan Club ceased and desisted a long time ago, and good riddance to them.​

Terrell, if you might recall, was the popular choice by the fans and the media for the Patriots to take with the sixth overall draft pick in the 2001 NFL Draft. The former Michigan wide receiver was seen as a huge offensive weapon for quarterback Drew Bledsoe, a potential game-breaker that Terry Glenn never panned out to be. Terrell was projected as a top fifteen pick at worst and a top ten pick at best.​

Some thought that Terrell might even be a top five pick. But Terrell fell to the Patriots at six, as Virginia Tech's Michael Vick went first to Atlanta, Leonard Davis of Texas went to Arizona, Gerard Warren of Florida went to Cleveland, Justin Smith of Missouri went to Cincinnati, and LaDainian Tomlinson of Texas Christian went to San Diego. Terrell was there, ready to be taken, and Patriot Nation was poised as Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli were about to land a franchise wide receiver.​

Instead, the Patriots shocked everyone by taking undersized defensive end Richard Seymour of Georgia. Seymour was a pass rushing end for the Bulldogs, but the Patriots were projecting him as a defensive tackle in their 4-3 base defense, which was the base they ran at the time, and appearing to be converting to today. At 310 pounds, he had a good weight for an end, but for a tackle, he was projected as a bit light for the position.​

Patriot Nation was aghast, and the media was only slightly less than that. Most observers thought that Belichick and Pioli had totally blown the pick. Ron Borges of the Herald wrote what became an adversely iconic opinion of that draft day in general and the Seymour pick in particular when he wrote this for the Globe: "On a day when they could have had impact players David Terrell or Koren Robinson, they took Georgia defensive tackle Richard Seymour, who had one sack last season in the pass-happy SEC and is too tall to play tackle at 6-6 and too slow to play defensive end. This genius move was followed by trading out of the spot where they could have gotten the last in Robert Ferguson and settled tackle Matt Light, who will not help any time soon." Terrell would go two picks later at eight to Chicago, while Robinson went to Seattle with the next pick. Ferguson would to go Green Bay in the second round.​

So, who was the real genius?​

Terrell was a complete and total bust in Chicago, who lasted four seasons with the Bears and one with Denver, then ended his career after a failed training camp stint with the Patriots. Robinson lasted four seasons with the Seahawks before being released due to an inability to lay off drugs, then tried to catch on with Minnesota and Green Bay before coming back to Seattle last year. His career may be over thanks to a knee injury. Ferguson has seen limited action in five seasons with the Packers and two with the Vikings.​

Seymour? When you mention his name you say things like "best defensive lineman in team history" and "you'll see him in Canton some day". Seymour wears three Super Bowl rings proudly, one of them won during his rookie year when he and Light helped lead the Patriots to their first championship ever. Terrell was supposed to be a prime target for Bledsoe, but when 2001 ended, Bledsoe wasn't even the starting Patriot quarterback anymore and was traded to Buffalo on draft day in 2002.​

Unfortunately, unlike Tedy Bruschi, who retired on Monday of last week, Seymour won't be able to say that he played his entire career as a Patriot. Seymour was traded to Oakland on Sunday for a 2011 first round draft pick, which could bode well for the Patriots if the Raiders continue to play as poorly as they have since their last Super Bowl seven seasons ago. The trade is still classified as shocking and earth shattering, but it does make sense and does answer some questions about the future of the Patriot defensive line, as well as the front seven in general.​

It now appears that the Patriots will be in a 4-3 base for the foreseeable future. The Patriots will have Vince Wilfork and Ron Brace as interior linemen, with Ty Warren and Jarvis Green on the ends. The Patriots will use Jerod Mayo as the middle linebacker and Adalius Thomas at one outside backer position. The other outside linebacker job will go to either Tully Banta-Cain, Gary Guyton or former Raider Derrick Burgess. With Seymour gone, look now for Wilfork to receive a more favorable long term deal from the Patriots, and he will be a most eager listener this time.​

But letting go of Seymour is not easily done.​

In the 1960s you had Houston Antwine and Jim Lee Hunt. In the 1970s you had Julius Adams and Sugar Bear Hamilton. In the 1980s there was supposed to have been Ken Sims, but Garin Veris was a sublime designated pass rusher. In the 1990s you enjoyed Chad Eaton, and watched Pete Carroll convert linebacker Willie McGinest to a defensive end.​

But in the 2000s you enjoyed the Big Three. Wilfork, Warren and Seymour. All first round picks. Wilfork has one ring, Warren two and Seymour three. Seymour was the big daddy, though he has yet to reach age 30. He seemed like an elder statesman, assumed a leadership role in the locker room, and was the rock of the Patriot front seven for many years. He was arguably the best defensive lineman in team history, though some older fans might still make a case for Antwine, who was a six-time AFL All-Pro.​

Seymour was a five-time NFL Pro Bowler and a three-time NFL first team All-Pro. He is tied with Antwine for tenth in team history in total sacks with 39. Seymour was a bit of an injury problem, in that he played in all 16 of his team's games only twice in his career and did miss a huge chunk of the 2003 postseason due to injury. But Seymour, when healthy, was at the top of his profession and one of the most respected linemen in the business.​

Seymour had an incident with Belichick in 2003 which was cause for some concern as to his long term happiness as a Patriot and his relationship with Belichick. He attended his grandfather's funeral in South Carolina and missed practices leading up to a game that weekend at home against Jacksonville. Belichick benched Seymour for the first quarter of that game, which according to reports greatly angered him. Seymour did eventually get a new contract in 2005, putting any thoughts of misgivings towards Belichick to rest.​

This contract doesn't expire until the end of next season, so the Patriots traded Seymour with one more year of control left. Seymour's cap number for 2009 comes off the Patriot books, making the Wilfork situation seem more workable than ever. Seymour will likely get one more lucrative contract for his career, and will be 30 when it comes time to get that new deal.​

Even though the Patriots are in a position to move on, it is extremely hard to say goodbye to Seymour. He was one of those special players whom you would have liked to have seen spend his whole career here. But the Patriots have apparently decided on keeping the younger Wilfork, so they say farewell to one of their most heralded players in history as he heads to one of the most woebegone teams in recent years.​

Meanwhile, Light continues to help the Patriots. Belichick really does know more than we do.​

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