Hyperbole time... the Hopkins trade is not the worst NFL trade ever, the worst is...

Those both certainly belong in the discussion. Both also look a hell of a lot worse now than they did at the time. Young had failed to distinguish himself with in both the USFL and with the Bucs. Of course, part of the problem was that both of those teams sucked.

Plenty of teams missed on Largent. He was a fourth-round pick with limited physical tools. Seattle was the perfect opportunity, an expansion team that was going to give borderline guys a shot. That one is still probably worse than the Young trade because the value was so low and because the Oilers gave up on him after just one training camp and preseason. If I remember correctly, Bum Phillips had already told Largent he was going to be cut if they couldn't trade him.

 

And the Oilers did have Ken Burroughs and Billy White Shoes Johnson on the roster - those two weren't stiffs.

 

These were a couple of the most full-throated arguments in favor of acquiring Richardson:

 

Obviously, I was wrong, although in my defense Richardson did have an incurable case of "Suckitis."

 

It should be noted, I made no argument about the trade either way, so I'm not gloating. We all get 'em wrong sometimes.

 

It's wild to go back and read those threads. Some other gems:

"The only QB that might be eligible I would consider taking is Brett Hundley. Something about how he plays, I think he's gonna be a very good player. I haven't seen Bridgewater, so I can't say much about him"

Ben probably had the best take. Discussion starts around page 35. I could have sworn I was really against the trade, but I must have posted about it somewhere else; I wasn't really wading into as many threads back then. I'm positive I'm probably on record with some equally bad takes, like thinking Ryan Mallett had some more left in the tank on Team X acquiring him. Searching for "Richardson" in my own posts did allow me to find this, which was delightful.

 

Daryl Lamonica and Tom Keating (I think) to the Raiders for Tom Flores and Art Powell didn't work out so hot for the Bills.

Shit, that was an AFL trade.

 

It was Lamonica and Glen Bass for Flores and Powell, which on paper was a terrible trade. However, it was Ron Wolf, then of the Raiders, who saw just enough of Lamonica that he believed he could be a star. So yes, 25 years before he pulled an underused Brett Favre from oblivion, he did the same thing with Lamonica.

 

Green Bay trading two first round picks, two second round picks, and a third round pick for 34 year old John Hadl helped set them back for years.

 

Some of us consider the Herschel trade the BEST trade ....

 

Tom Cullen spelled Moon too.

 

That is an interesting take. The worst trades for one team are the best for another. Yet, we always go with negative. A truly worst trade ever would harm both teams equally.