Trade: Bethel Johnson for Johnathan Sullivan

Bellicheck and Johnson never got along...

In one of the deeper fantasy football leagues I was in last year, I drafted Bethel in round 5003043 or something. Basically, I suspected that he'd take over Troy Brown's role as the burner WR and stud kick returner.

Whoops.

Being traded to the Saints is like being sent to Siberia by Stalin.

I don't like this trade for the Saints. They lost their best OL in Bentley in the offseason and already have Horn and Stallworth at WR with Bush available for kick returns. The only reason this makes a little sense is so Johnson can return kickoffs to give Bush a breather. I wonder if this will give Sullivan's career a resurgence. The Patriots have a history of making Pro Bowlers out of no name OL. Maybe they can do something incredible with a highly touted guy.

I don't think you'll see Bush return many kicks in the NFL. You're not going to put the franchise in position to injured like that.

Yeah. This is hardly the world's most exciting trade, but the Pats have done a good job building up players into being better than they were before. It'll be interesting to see if Coach Bill can make anything of Sullivan. This gives the Saints more depth at WR, with a veteran third guy, and dumps someone who never lived up to his potential. I think this is a decent trade for both teams, but it's not exactly going to sell a lot of jerseys.

big OL that are not up to snuff are a dime a dozen...if you want to evaluate this deal in the proper perspective watch a slo-mo replay of the 40 yd dash competition between the two guys. Saints are going to the Super Bowl this year baby

I'm not sure why everyone is commenting on Sullivan as an OL as he plays Defensive Line. He was touted as the next Richard Seymour coming out of the 2003 draft. This is an excellent low risk move for both teams. There will be more trades like this one this summer than ever before since there were no big June 1st cuts this year. Sullivan has a pretty strong lazy streak and like to eat more than he should. With the Pats enviroment/peer pressure he will either step-up or be out of football pretty soon. You gotta admit if a player has some "turd-like" qualities they'll (at least under Haslett's watch) probably turn into turd quicker than a stud player. that roster is full of Paper players in New Orlenas and maybe Sean Payton can turn it around.

Yeah, I apologize for the OL comment, that was my mistake earlier.

This makes no sense for the Saints. Johnson is arrogant and useless. They've got way too many skill guys as is. The patriots will turn this guy into a stud within 2 years...

Well, Sullivan will probably be a good role player anyways. Currently, the Patriots have 3 first round picks in the front three with Jarvis Green rotating in on passing downs. Unless Sullivan is really THAT good, I don't see him breaking into the starting lineup.

No Big Chachi. I've been reading "Management Secrets of the NE Patriots" and this is (I realize that I'm getting ready to state the obvious) a classic Belichick/Pioloi move. They're theory (in the draft at least) is DL is a prime position for the early rounds. The learning curve is not nearly as steep as the other positions therefore they contribute faster which in turn gives you more bang for your buck. I'm actually a Steelers fan but really respect what Belichick and Pioli have done and are doing. If they can motivate Sullivan this is a great move but I'm still puzzled why the Saints traded for Johnson.