Let's Make a Deal: Niner Edition

Mike Nolan is the Monty Hall of the NFL. In just under two years Mike Nolan has been a trading fool. During that span he has traded away a total of nine players, that is unheard of in today's NFL. The last time the Niners traded a player for player was back in 1988, if my math is correct that is 17 years, and in two, Nolan has done it nine times. I bet Nolan would trade his grandmother for the right price. The humor in all of this is that those nine players were all drafted by former general manager, Terry Donahue. I guess it is safe to say that Donahue sucked at his job. Of course we already knew that didn't we Niner fans? We didn't need Mike Nolan to trade away players in order for us to see that, but I will not get into the whole Donahue thing, that is a story all in itself.

Now let's take a look closer at those drafts and see who got the better end of the deal.

- John Engelberger for Willie Middlebrooks. Denver won out on this one. Mainly because Engelberger actually produced something. Middlebrooks spent more time getting cut than playing.

- Jamie Winborn for a seventh-round pick. Too early to tell on this deal. Nolan took this seventh-round pick combined it with another and used it to move up in the draft and draft Melvin Oliver. The funny thing about this is that Nolan traded the seventh he received from Jacksonville back to them to move up.

- Tim Rattay for a sixth-round pick. I'll give the edge to the 49ers here. Mainly because Rattay is battling a rookie from Toledo for the backup spot in Tampa, and the Niners used that sixth to draft Marcus Hudson, who is looking to help the Niners secondary.

- Brandon Lloyd for a third and a fourth round pick. Niners win this one, reason is they got two draft picks for a player who is nothing better than a number two receiver, and they used the third this year to move up into the first and draft Manny Lawson. We'll have to wait until the 2007 draft to see who Nolan and Co. take in the fourth. Also I'd like to point out that they replaced Lloyd with Antonio Bryant.

- Ken Dorsey and a seventh-round pick for Trent Dilfer. I'll give the nod to the Niners, because quite frankly Dorsey will never amount to anything in the NFL, and the Niners replaced him with a much needed veteran presence, who will help mentor Alex Smith

- Rashaun Woods for Sammy Davis. Let me first say I would have traded Woods for some beef jerky and a bottle of Yoo-Hoo, so to get an actual player who is looking to contribute on defense for the Bass Champion Woods. This one is a no brainer, Niners win here.

- Cody Pickett for a seventh-rounder. This trade really has no effect whatsoever, mainly because the seventh will not be received unless Pickett makes the Texans roster. Basically the Niners acquired Trent Dilfer for Dorsey and Pickett, since they got the 7th they gave up for Dilfer back on this trade.

- Mike Rumph for Taylor Jacobs. This is a toss up at this point, we are not really sure the impact Jacobs will have on the team, but he if makes the squad and produces anything, the Niners win, because Rumph most likely would have been cut.

- Kevan Barlow for a fourth-round pick. The Niners win big on this one. The fourth will end up basically being a late third, since the Jets will not win many games. Kevan Barlow was going to be demoted to second-string behind Frank Gore, and the Niners can get the same production out of Maurice Hicks, and Michael Robinson that Barlow would have gave them.

There you have it, so far the Niners seem have to won the majority of these trades, and something tells me the Monty Hall of the NFL is far from over in his wheeling and dealing.