How could Berry trade Baker before going after watson? There were at least four teams in serious contention for watson's services. There was no way of knowing before hand who would end up with watson. Had Berry have traded Baker before the watson sweepstakes and come up empty, he would have looked like a fool. No watson, no baker and a weak QB draft class.
The decision broke down just the way it should have. When you are bidding against 3 other teams, you have a 25% chance of landing your target. You don't unload your current QB with those odds. You keep him to hedge your bet. You realize that if you win the watson sweepstakes you may end up eating some or most of his contract. That's the only realistic way to approach it. You fully understand that Baker's contract has a real possibility of becoming part of the price you are actually paying for watson and base your decision on that. You just look at the fact you may have to add Baker's 18.9 mil. to watsons's 230 mil. Which in total means the money you paid for watson ends up being 248.9 mil.
Either that or you take a huge gamble going into the 2022 season with no QB. Going about it that way would have been stupid on so many levels. No, Berry did the right thing even though he knew the position we might be facing. It was "Baked into" the watson deal.
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