Trade Deadline Shakeup? or Not.

In the most of undramatic fashions, this Tuesday's NFL trade deadline came, and it went, without barely a glimmer of surprise or excitement. As is standard among NFL teams, trades seem to come much more infrequently, and are becoming less and less exciting as the seasons pass. But that doesn't mean they SHOULDN'T happen. Case and point, Terrel Eldorado Owens.

Players go to Oakland to die. Remeber Randy Moss? Except in this scenario, we substitute Oakland for Buffalo. T.O. has gone to Buffalo to die. Luckily for him, he doesn't have to stay there. But he still is there, and this is puzzling to me. Owens may be turning 36, but just last year, he was still among the top 5 receivers in the NFL. Only two years removed from a blazing 1300+ yard, 10 touchdown season. So why would Buffalo choose to keep him on their payroll, sucking up millions, when their starting quarterback is Ryan Fitzpatrick. They've gutted their offensive line to the extent that they're now using 3 (count 'em, three) rookies. With so many teams looking for wide-out help (see, Ravens, Baltimore) who's to say that they couldn't lock themselves up an offensive lineman? Or possibly a higher round draft pick for an All-Star receiver that still has a little gas in the tank. A sad miscalculation from the Owens camp. Unfortunately, I don't think he got out of there before the damage was done.

Now we come to the Carolina Panthers and their magnificent DE talent, Julius Peppers. The hardest thing to understand, is how they can let a player literally rot on their roster while he soaks in a pretty 14 million dollars. Attention Panthers GM, your team is 2-6, all but out of the playoff race. Your quarterback is Jake Delhomme, who is giving interceptions away for free like a charity at Christmas. There aren't many things going for you here. When it comes down to the wire, you could save yourself 14 million, lock up a first round draft pick, and if things continue this way, probably get a top-10 pick in next year's draft as well. Think of what you could accomplish with two picks in the first round. Instead, you're going to let Julius Peppers hang out and play for a team he doesn't want to play for. Then, when free agency hits, you're going to let him walk away Scott free. Not smart.

(information in this article was provided in part by http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/stats?playerId=1056)