The Greatest Trade For Every NFL Team In History

Jacksonville Jaguars: The Fred Taylor trade

It’s the dream of every front office to pull off the ultimate buy-low-sell-high maneuver. That is to say get a player for pennies on the dollar, have them exceed expectations for a period of time and trade them while their value is peaking for maximum return. That is exactly what the Jacksonville Jaguars pulled off with Rob Johnson. A backup for three years by 1997, he was forced into the starting lineup at the start of the year due to injuries to starter Mark Brunell. He had just four incompletions, 294 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.  That performance, combined with his impressive measurables convinced Buffalo Bills management that he was a potential diamond in the rough.

Jacksonville took advantage, and fleeced them for a 1st round pick in the 1998 draft. Johnson started sporadically for the Bills over the next two years and accomplished little. The Jaguars used that pick to draft a young running back out of Florida named Fred Taylor. Though he would reach only one Pro Bowl, he would go on to put up over 14,000 yards from scrimmage and score 74 touchdowns in 11 years. It was one of the most finely crafted trade maneuvers a team has ever pulled off.

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