Not dreadful at all

I still don't understand why people think this was a mistake.

Indeed, if there was a winner in the deal, it's difficult to find one.

The Redskins essentially ended up with only Bailey and Arrington from the deal, and they did not transform the Washington defense into the second coming of the Steel Curtain.

The Redskins made the playoffs in 1999 but didn't return to the postseason until 2005.

By then, Washington had gone through three head coaches.

"The Redskins made a great trade, but they didn't execute it properly after they made it, " Landry said. "They did a poor job with evaluation and development. It was a great opportunity for them, and they messed it up."

Likewise, the three picks Chicago acquired indirectly in the deal didn't amount to much.

Quarterback Cade McNown, whom the Bears selected with the Saints' original first-rounder at No. 12, was a bust, going 3-12 in two seasons and eventually losing his job.

Wide receiver D'wayne Bates and linebacker Khari Samuels never developed into starters and were out of Chicago after three years.

Mark Hatley, the Bears' director of player personnel, was fired in April 2001 a few months after it became apparent McNown would join 1998 first-round pick Curtis Enis as a major bust.

Indeed, only four players from the original free-for-all remain active in the league today. Williams, Bailey and a pair of players drafted by Denver with the Saints' original sixth- and seventh-round picks via a trade with Washington. The Broncos used the seventh-round pick, No. 218 overall, to take a little-known wide receiver out of Southern Cal named Billy Miller.

"I thought that trade was the craziest thing I'd ever seen, " said Miller, now a reserve tight end for the Saints. "It's been a very interesting journey. To be a part of the original Ricky Williams trade and to end up here and finish my career in New Orleans is ironic."

I can't name a single player in that list more entertaining to have had on the team than Ricky. And yet the headline to this story characterizes the trade as a "dreadful miscalculation" (pun obviously intended). I seriously wonder sometimes if some people really understand football.