Ten & Six With Mike Otto: Breaking Down The Percy Harvin Trade

Peace out, keep out, take the scenic route...

Well hello again, Vikings fans!  It's been a little while since we've spoken with Mike about the Vikings, but the offseason officially starts tomorrow and the the Vikings jumped the gun today by dealing former Offensive Rookie Of The Year Percy Harvin to the Seattle Seahawks for a 1st round and 7th round pick in this year's draft and a 3rd round pick in next year's draft.

Obviously this qualifies as big news, so we asked Mike to take time out from his busy schedule of Trendsetting and providing Deadspin with jokes to send us his thoughts.  Mike?

 GOODBYE PERCY

 

As you may have heard, Percy Harvin was traded to the Seattle Seahawks today for the 'Hawks 1st and 7th round picks in this years draft, as well as a 3rd rounder next year. Not too shabby for a guy who was only supposed to garner a second round pick at most.

This is the first time a wide receiver has garnered a first round pick in a trade since March 2nd, 2005. Can you name that receiver? The one, the only, Randy Gene Moss! Since then many big name receivers have been traded with none garnering any more than a couple mid-round picks. Let's hope this trade turns out a little better than the Moss fiasco in '05. I mean, I know we all miss Napolean Harris, but let's hope we get more than what the great Napolean brought to the table.

Lets break down just how Rick Spielman milked all this potential value out of Percy, whether it was a good choice, and what the team should do from here.

Whether you think it was a good choice or not, you have to admit it was the best/only choice the Vikings had at this time. I equate the Percy Harvin/Minnesota Vikings relationship to that of a bad marriage, one so far fractured that the differences were irreconcilable, and separation was best for both parties.

Percy was not going to play for the Vikings this year. He was angry enough to waste an entire year of his prime in order to stick it to the Vikings purely out of spite. In this scenario, the Vikings get nothing for Harvin and look like a bunch of fucking morons in the process. Not ideal.

I believe Harvin when he says it wasn't about the money. He just really fucking dislikes Christian Ponder. In a perfect world, Harvin is still in a Vikings uniform, but fact is you simply can't make someone want to be here. Spielman and the Vikings got an insane amount of value for what had become a problem to them. The Seahawks might have gotten the final piece for a championship run. On paper, this trade was a win-win.

There is only one way Spielman pulled this off and it was a brilliant play on his part. He created a market for Harvin where there was none at the beginning of the offseason. How? He forced two fierce rivals into a bidding war for the prized receiver/return man/running back. Keep in mind this is only my speculation on what went down.

Spielman first contacts the San Francisco 49ers and says something along the lines of, "Hey, you guys were almost there last year, how would you feel about giving up your 1st round pick for a young, established talent in the prime of his career?" This undoubtedly sounded like a dream scenario for the Niners, I mean, after all, they aren't going to get a Percy Harvin with the 31st overall pick in this years draft.

Spielman then contacts the Niners' fierce division rival, the Seattle Seahawks and says, "Hey guys, the Niners are gonna give me this for Harvin, and I'm gonna do it unless you can top it." So the Seahawks had to ask themselves, who do we want Percy Harvin to play for, us or them?

Let the bidding begin! Like I said, brilliant.

Where to go from here? The possibilities are endless! They range from the likely - picking up one of the free agents Amendola, Jennings or Wallace while drafting 2-3 WR's this year, to the unlikely - packaging the two first-rounders for someone like Larry Fitzgerald.

I am sure of one thing, this is part of a bigger plan. It's come to light that the Vikings were attempting to acquire Anquan Boldin before the Niners traded for him (revenge trade?) and I'm fairly certain the Purple will aggressively go after one of those big name free agents.

Overall, I'm satisfied with the trade as a fan, even if I am a little sad. I'm sorry to see Harvin go. He was fun to watch and it hurts whenever your team loses a versatile talent who is a former rookie of the year. This is just the way it had to be. Harvin couldn't be a team player, he couldn't fall in line, and he especially couldn't accept Christian Ponder as his long-term QB.

The Vikings had a choice. Percy Harvin or Christian Ponder? Only time will tell if they made the right one, but at least you know there is some conviction behind this choice.

In terms of potential value, I think the Seahawks got fleeced by Rick Spielman. That opinion won't be finalized for a year or two when we find out what the Vikings do with their acquired draft picks, but for now, I think Spielman made the most of a bad situation.

Good luck Percy! When we face you in the future I hope Blair Walsh just kicks it out of the end zone.

(Weird sports fact: On March 11th, 1999 the Minnesota Timberwolves dealt budding star and malcontent Stephon Marbury to the New Jersey Nets for Terrell Brandon's aging knees and a 1st round draft pick. If the correlation between that trade and this one goes any deeper, you will find Percy Harvin playing for the XianJing Dragons in about 10 years. At least they don't drug test Chinese athletes.)

There you have it, folks!  The offseason begins with a bang here at Ten & Six!  Percy Harvin: Out!  Rick Spielman: Savvy!  Mike Otto: Succinct!

As you can probably imagine, Mike will be joining us throughout the NFL offseason to discuss major and minor moves made by The Purple.  Until then be sure to follow him on Twitter (@SwervinTaters) for pigskin rantings and ravings.  He can also be found right here on Newest Industry as  on our weekly news wrap-up Trendsetting.

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