The swap of Kevin Zeitler and Olivier Vernon on Friday earned the immediate, mutual stamp of approval from the talking football masses. It’s a player-for-player deal that fits needs on both teams, snugs in comfortably with the salary cap and doesn’t risk and high-end draft capital.
Check, check and check.
Of course, any breakdown of the trade ignoring the motivations behind the swap misses a critical point: The Giants needed this one badly. The Browns did not.
One team is stabbing at the veteran free-agent offensive-line market in a desperate last-minute heave to legitimize their decision to stick with quarterback Eli Manning for another season.