The biggest bite of all of this is how many players we have hitting their stride right now with big contracts ticking away with whom we're likely toasting a season.
You both nailed it. And this point here is why I doubt the DW trade will be judged as a positive when we look back in 10 years time. Clearly if you think Baker is a bum and injured 2021 Baker is the same as healthy 2021 Baker - and we have some fans that think that way - then no matter what happens with DW you will probably always justify the trade. If you think healthy Baker is a top 15 QB then maybe you feel differently.
If Baker has a bounce back season and gets a lucrative second contract, I think you can start to have that discussion. Especially if he puts two good seasons together back to back, this season and next. But don't forget, the coach and the GM of this team...the guys that see him day in and day out...the guys that know him better than anyone on this board...were willing to burn the bridge with Baker because they believed there was a better option out there. They took his injury into consideration. They took his entire body of work into consideration. They wanted to go another route.
And while I am not happy we are wasting another year of several really good player's primes, aren't we being just a bit melodramatic about it? All these guys with the exception of Bitonio are still young. And chances are we are not winning multiple Super Bowls. If we are blessed to be in a position to win a Super Bowl, it's likely just one. There's plenty of time for that. Plus, maybe we could surprise this year, DW will get to knock the rust off at the end of the year, and hopefully go into next year in a really strong position.
Also, there seems to be this underlying assumption that if we had not made the trade and kept Baker that our chances of winning this year were high. Compare Baker to all the other AFC QBs and tell me where you'd rank him. Those are your chances.
