*The Giving Tree II

[Baron1898]

The Giving Tree

Chasing the ISFL’s Longest Running Trade

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Volume I | Volume II | Volume III

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May 30, 2018: Week 1, Season 8

#116: Philadelphia Liberty and Yellowknife Wraiths, 6/12/18
receives:
Yellowknife S10 2nd Round (WR Jordan von Matt)
Yellowknife S10 3rd Round (if Hendrix retires before the S8 Ultimus)

receives:
LB Micah Hendrix [#22, #23]
Philadelphia S10 3rd Round (if Hendrix retires before the S8 Ultimus)

Since we can clearly see that Micah Hendrix did not retire before the Season 8 Ultimus, this trade boiled down to the Wraiths paying a second rounder in the S10 Draft for Hendrix’s services. He played two years in Yellowknife before hanging up the cleats, leading all linebackers in pass deflections with 20 in Season 8. The pick they handed to the Liberty was spent on wide receiver Jordan von Matt. Von Matt took one season to develop in the DSFL but eventually matured into Philly’s WR1 for many years, including a four season stretch from Season 13 to Season 16 where he earned 1,100+ yards and went to the Pro Bowl every year.

#118: Colorado Yeti and Philadelphia Liberty, 6/12/18
receives:
RB Damien Kroetch [#24]

receives:
Colorado S9 3rd Round

The Liberty were in the business of trading players for picks, needing to deconstruct an old Ultimus-winning roster and stockpile for a rebuild. The second trade in this tree to serve as evidence for this strategy, this swap involved the acquisition of a third-round selection in the S9 Draft in return for giving up Damien Kroetch. Kroetch’s final three seasons in Colorado saw a swift decline in production from his Philadelphia days, with his snaps and production steadily declining from 663 rushing yards in Season 8 to 116 rushing yards in Season 10. He also allowed more sacks (5) in Season 9 than he put up pancakes (4), so do with that as you will.

#119: New Orleans Second Line and Philadelphia Liberty, 6/13/18
receives:
Philadelphia S9 4th Round (WR ShaDarrien LaMelllana)
TE Paul DiMirio [#15]
DT Godfrey King [#62]
S8 2 million cap space

receives:
Higher of Colorado/New Orleans S10 1st Round
–> Colorado S10 1st Round (QB Adriana Falconi)
New Orleans S10 2nd Round
Yellowknife S9 3rd Round (WR Jai Turner)
WR Stormblessed
DT Omar Wrong

Paul DiMirio went into the Hall of Fame as a member of the Liberty, but six of his twelve seasons were actually spent in New Orleans, as were half of his twelve Pro Bowls and two of his Tight End of the Year awards. DiMirio’s production undoubtedly declined while in New Orleans, however; after getting 1,071 receiving yards in his first season on the team, he never again reached four digits and decreased his receiving yardage year-over-year until retirement. Although he was certainly the star of the show, he was not the only piece traded to the Second Line. Godfrey King earned another three Pro Bowls during his final five years in the league and was even named the Season 9 Defensive Lineman of the Year. ShaDarrien LaMellana was a late round draft pick who never made it onto the field for New Orleans. These, plus the small cap relief in Season 8, were the necessary price for Philly to pay to acquire a treasure trove of three draft picks, including a first rounder, and two replacement players. That first rounder turned into Adriana Falconi, Philly’s quarterback from Season 11 to Season 19 and a Hall of Very Good candidate who earned three Pro Bowls and ranks fifth all-time in interceptions. The rest of the Liberty’s haul, however, was less than stellar. Jai Turner caught one pass his entire career, five seasons after being drafted, and it wasn’t even for Philadelphia. Omar Wrong also never played for the Liberty. Stormblessed’s most interesting addition to this trade tree, since his production was anything but extraordinary, is that a trade that sent Stormblessed to Las Vegas back before Season 2 is actually ground zero for the second largest trade tree in league history.

#122: Orange County Otters and Yellowknife Wraiths, 7/6/18
receives:
Yellowknife S9 1st Round (RB Ricky Adams)
S Marcus Kane [#5]

receives:
Orange County S9 1st Round

The Wraiths swapped first round picks with the Otters, moving up two spots to sixth overall and giving up safety Marcus Kane as bonus value. Kane, a veteran of our very first trade, put in three final years in Orange County as a starter in the backfield and even recorded a career high 92 tackles in Season 10. Trading down also netted the Otters running back Ricky Adams. Adams had a very promising rookie season after redshirting in the DSFL for a year, getting 1,118 rushing yards and ten touchdowns on the ground. Interestingly, although Adams’ yardage on the ground declined year-over-year for the remainder of his five years with Orange County, his yards from scrimmage went up, courtesy of impressive 1,000+ yard seasons through the air in Seasons 12 and 13. Despite this resume, Adams only got a single Pro Bowl for his efforts.

#123: Colorado Yeti and Yellowknife Wraiths, 7/6/18
receives:
Orange County S9 1st Round (CB Oskar Ludvig) [#122]

receives:
S9 15 million cap space
Colorado S10 3rd Round (CB Jake Verden)
Colorado S11 2nd Round (CB Josh Parker)
Colorado S11 3rd Round

Having just traded up to the Otters pick, Yellowknife decided to trade down for a smorgasbord of Colorado’s later picks and a chunk of cap space in Season 9 close to rivaling the GDP of Vatican City. They used two of their three new selections on two cornerbacks: Jake Verden, who played only a single season as a depth corner and backup punt returner, and Josh Parker, who played no seasons as a corner but converted to wide receiver and produced consistent, if unexceptional, results. The first round pick they gave up wasn’t much of a loss either. Ludvig played five non-consecutive seasons for Colorado between Season 9 and Season 15, two of which were only as a backup but one of which managed to earn a Pro Bowl spot.

#126: Orange County Otters and Philadelphia Liberty, 7/6/18
receives:
Colorado S9 3rd Round (DE Young Spaghetti) [#118]
S9 500 thousand cap space

receives:
Orange County S9 3rd Round (LB Robert Jordan)
Orange County S10 3rd Round (DE Avery Woodham)

Here we see Orange County giving away that S9 3rd from the Carlito Crush trade to an entirely new team, part of the price paid to move up three spots in the third round and grab Young Spaghetti. Spaghetti contributed ten total tackles over his two-year tenure, although two of those tackles were sacks. The player they could have drafted at their original spot, Robert Jordan, did the bare minimum at the professional level and put up a single tackle before disappearing from the upper league. Avery Woodham, by far the most successful of the three draftees involved, stayed in the DSFL for his first season and then played for a different team.

July 16, 2018: Week 1, Season 9

#128: Arizona Outlaws and New Orleans Second Line, 7/20/18
receives:
WR ShaDarrien LaMelllana [#119]

receives:
Arizona S10 3rd Round (TE Chinwemma Yobanna-Kanayochukwu)

The battle of the unpronounceables! If articles were paid by the letter instead of by the word, I am sure we would see many more article about the illustrious career of ShaDarrien LaMelllana, a Second Line draft pick from Season 9 who didn’t play for his original team… and wouldn’t play for the Outlaws either, because LaMelllana is going to get traded again. Meanwhile, New Orleans received a player whose name I will only ever copy and paste, Yobanna-Kanayochukwu, who contributed a staggering 204 career rushing yards and 44 pancakes¬ in a two-year career.

#129: Arizona Outlaws and San Jose Sabercats, 8/15/18
receives:
San Jose S11 1st Round (LB Alex Selich)
San Jose S11 2nd Round (DT Footballer Sackerman)
LB Barnaby Earl [#104]

receives:
Arizona S10 1st Round (WR Kazimir Oles)

Hall of Fame players are hard to come by, but this trade involved two of them. The Sabercats traded away two premier picks in the S11 Draft and a familiar face at linebacker for the second overall selection in Season 10, where they took Kazimir Oles. His six seasons in San Jose steadily increased in workload, serving a WR1 role with a Season 13 Wide Receiver of the Year and four Pro Bowls. Alex Selich’s Hall of Fame career was mostly spent on other teams, but his rookie seasons were highly productive for Arizona, winning Linebacker of the Year and Defensive Rookie of the Year his first season in the league when he racked up 134 tackles and 17 pass deflections. His rookie partner, Footballer Sackerman, also only stuck around for his rookie contract with Arizona and played on the defensive line with less exceptional results than Selich. Barnaby Earl started a season earlier than either in Season 10, but coincidentally also left the Outlaws after Season 13 concluded. He got 102 and 103 tackles in his middle two seasons, flanked by two less noteworthy seasons on either side.

#131: Colorado Yeti and Philadelphia Liberty, 8/18/18
receives:
DE Norman Bagwell
RB Willy Nyquist
WR Fox North [#15]
S Ryan Flock [#62]
Philadelphia S10 3rd Round (RB Devo Cansino)

receives:
Colorado S11 1st Round

Philadelphia shipped over a boatload of players and a third rounder to Colorado to grab the Yeti’s S11 first rounder, a pick that would eventually land at sixth overall. In the meantime, the Yeti received five additions to their roster. Norman Bagwell, who had been on the Liberty for four years, spent his lone professional year as a Yeti getting three sacks and seven tackles for loss on 30 total tackles. Willy Nyquist, a Wraiths draftee who had pretty quickly bolted for Philadelphia, technically played three years for Colorado but added so little of value on the field that it is hard to say he was even an asset. Fox North, who had served as Philadelphia’s premier wideout for many years and at one point had seven consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, started off fine in a complementary role but plummeted to the bottom of the depth chart in dramatic fashion after two seasons and never recovered. Ryan Flock joined the chorus of mediocrity with one final season in Colorado before retirement. The lone draft pick on the Yeti side of the trade became a five-year RB2 named Devo Cansino; he put up very consistent rushing totals in the high triple digits every year before abruptly ending his career after Season 15.

#133: Baltimore Hawks and Philadelphia Liberty, 8/24/18
receives:
S10 4 million cap space
New Orleans S10 2nd Round (S Damien Arnold) [#119]
Colorado S11 1st Round [#131]

receives:
Baltimore S10 1st Round (RB Achilles Hondo)

The Liberty traded for another first rounder, though this one they actually used. Achilles Hondo the running back was rather terrible for the investment paid to get him, hovering around 200 yards rushing and receiving combined for both Season 11 and 12 before leaving the Liberty once his rookie contract expired. Baltimore’s primary reward was avoiding this pick; their secondary reward was securing that Colorado S11 first, some needed cap space, and a second in the S10 Draft that turned into two-time Pro Bowler Damien Arnold. Arnold spent his first year in the DSFL, put in two seasons for the Hawks that both earned Pro Bowl spots, and then made like Achilles Hondo and left his original team, albeit via different circumstances.

#134: Philadelphia Liberty and Yellowknife Wraiths, 8/26/18
receives:
Colorado S11 3rd Round (DT Curtis Saul) [#123]

receives:
DE Avery Woodham [#126]

Avery Woodham, a third-round selection from the S10 Draft, was moved over to Yellowknife so the Liberty could try their hand at a different draft’s third round. Three of Woodham’s seven career years in the NSFL accrued as a Wraith, where he put up wildly different statlines ranging from 108 tackles and two tackles for loss to 28 tackles, six tackles for loss, and four sacks. Curtis Saul came out the other end of the trade. He started for five years in Philly, adding three Pro Bowls to his name and earning a career high 50 tackles and seven sacks in Season 15 before he was stolen away by Chicago in the expansion draft.

September 5, 2018: Week 1, Season 10

#138: New Orleans Second Line and Orange County Otters, 9/20/18
receives:
WR Carlito Crush [#105]

receives:
New Orleans S12 2nd Round (WR Tommy Helanen)

An interesting blip in Carlito Crush’s long career occurred here, when he was traded to New Orleans as a single-season rental to aid the latter team’s title push. His Season 10 campaign was split between two separate teams, but Crush still put up 1,425 yards, six touchdowns, and a Pro Bowl in the height of his prime (although the Second Line quest for a second title was thwarted 29-23 in the Ultimus against the Baltimore Hawks). As compensation for losing a wide receiver that would immediately come back the next season, Orange County received an S12 second rounder that they spun into consistent WR2 Tommy Helanen. Helanen, however, stayed only his rookie season before putting up almost all of his career production for a different team.

#139: Arizona Outlaws and Baltimore Hawks, 10/10/18
receives:
WR Budda Browning [#20, #39, #75, #110]

receives:
Arizona S13 3rd Round (K Kyle Frost)
S11 2.5 million cap space

Funnily enough, Kyle Frost is not ever a member of the Baltimore Hawks since that pick was never traded. That’s right, we have shenanigans again, and for some reason the Hawks must have plain forgot that they had the rights to that pick. They ended up only receiving some S11 cap relief as the recompense for losing Budda Browning, the league’s new favorite journeyman. Browning turned in his second-to-last career season, and last season with significant numbers, for Arizona and managed to get over 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns.

#142: Baltimore Hawks and New Orleans Second Line, 10/12/18
receives:
New Orleans S11 1st Round (DE Kwame Adayomi Mbanefo)
New Orleans S12 3rd Round

receives:
Colorado S11 1st Round (LB Tana Keita) [#131, #133]

That Colorado pick was traded a third and final time, finally landing on a permanent suitor with the New Orleans Second Line. Keita earned two Pro Bowls during his rookie contract, including 134 tackles in Season 13 off the league leading mark by only one. Baltimore moved down a whole one spot, grabbing Kwame Adayomi Mbanefo and being rewarded with five years of consistent production at the defensive end position. Mbanefo also got two Pro Bowls along his Hawks tenure and might have stayed longer if not pilfered by the Butchers with the first overall pick of the expansion draft in Season 16.

#144: Colorado Yeti and Philadelphia Liberty, 10/13/18
receives:
Philadelphia S12 2nd Round (LB Logan Lejune)

receives:
CB Andre Bly Jr. [#52]
DT Eli Kamaka

Andre Bly Jr. stayed only a year in Philadelphia. The veteran cornerback had respectable numbers with 69 tackles, fifteen deflections, and three interceptions, although these were all downgrades from all but his first rookie years. Eli Kamaka, an original Philadelphia draftee from all the way back in the fifth round of the S2 Draft, returned triumphantly from three years in the sim league wilderness (Colorado) for one final sendoff season on the Liberty. Impressively, Kamaka at defensive tackle and in regression still managed 43 tackles and thirteen sacks, the latter only one off his career high, and rode a Pro Bowl nod into the sunset. Colorado, meanwhile, got impressive value out of the second rounder they acquired, turning it into Logan Lejune. Lejune stayed on the Yeti for nine years, contributing both at linebacker and sometimes at kick returner and earning two Pro Bowls at each of those positions.

#145: Colorado Yeti and Orange County Otters, 10/14/18
receives:
Orange County S12 2nd Round (WR Rylant Wright)

receives:
LB Rickey Ramero
DE Norman Bagwell [#131]

The Otters traded away a draft pick to grab a pair of defensive players. Rickey Ramero played for four years and led the league in Season 12 with 139 tackles, contributing significant snaps for the linebacking corps. Norman Bagwell had three seasons of good play, including career-high water marks of 45 tackles and fifteen tackles for loss in his first season on the team. The second rounder that Orange County gave away rewarded the Yeti with all of five catches and 57 yards for Wright’s one-season stint in Colorado.

October 22, 2018: Week 1, Season 11

#148: Baltimore Hawks and Philadelphia Liberty, 12/3/18 (??)
receives:
Philadelphia S12 4th Round (S Derek Bohne)

receives:
New Orleans S12 3rd Round (S Johnathan Towers) [#142]
Baltimore S12 4th Round (WR Sam Hardwick)

The date on this trade is listed as questionable because I was only able to learn of its existence via an old off-hand message in the league discord server (thanks @iamslm22). To be honest, I don’t quite understand the reasoning from Baltimore here; why downgrade from the third to the fourth round and give up an extra fourth on top of that? Oh well. Derek Bohne, the lucky apple of the Hawks’ eye, stayed down in the DSFL for four straight years and then finally reached the big leagues… as a member of the Liberty. Meanwhile, the Liberty’s actual draftees actually put in less years for Philadelphia than Bohne did, at least on their rookie contracts. Towers garnered 86 tackles and thirteen pass deflections during his only season in Philly, before being traded down the line. Hardwick doubled that resume with two unexceptional seasons on the receiving depth chart before he too got traded.

#149: Arizona Outlaws and Yellowknife Wraiths, 12/3/18
receives:
Yellowknife S12 5th Round (DE Cole Walker)
Yellowknife S12 6th Round (CB Jeffrey Murphy)

receives:
Arizona S12 5th Round
Arizona S12 6th Round (S Grayson Wayne)
WR Budda Browning [#20, #39, #75, #110, #139]

Pour one out for Budda Browning, who makes his final appearance on this trade tree by finally finding his retirement home in the remote reaches of Canada. His days of WR1 glory came to an abrupt end, crashing down from three straight 1,000+ yard seasons and only getting 188 yards on sixteen catches for his swan song. In other news, there were other, less interesting assets traded here. Cole Walker was a rotational piece on the defensive line at best, only getting significant numbers in the first of his three years on the Outlaws. Jeffery Murphy played two years as a corner and two more as a running back, alternating between seasons of decent production and seasons of basically no production whatsoever. Grayson Wayne played no years for the Wraiths or for anyone else.

#150: New Orleans Second Line and Yellowknife Wraiths, 12/3/18
receives:
Arizona S12 5th Round (DE Stayve Jerome Thomas) [#149]
RB Borro Gore

receives:
New Orleans S12 4th Round (DL Pecker Cox)

The very maturely named Pecker Cox found his way to Yellowknife as a result of this trade. He was far from fantastic but did snag a Pro Bowl in Season 14 for a campaign that included ten tackles for loss and three sacks on 31 total tackles. By moving down a round, New Orleans ended up drafting Stayve Jerome Thomas, a defensive end who only played the last season of his rookie contract on the team but did force over half of his tackles for a loss (eleven of twenty). Borro Gore, a wildly mediocre backup running back, found a second home in the Second Line. Forced into action as the team’s primary rusher by virtue of being the only one on the roster, Gore nearly broke 700 rushing yards and found the end zone eleven times in Season 12. By the next year, New Orleans had had enough and limited him to a mere twelve carries.

#153: San Jose Sabercats and Yellowknife Wraiths, 12/5/18
receives:
LB Chad Pennington [#84]
S Thad Pennington [#104, #108]

receives:
San Jose S13 1st Round
San Jose S13 2nd Round (WR Knute Knurtsson)
San Jose S14 1st Round (LB Sandip Bakshi)
S Nate Piazza
TE Adrian Pitcher
DT Calkewlated Chambers III

For a small time, all three of the Penningtons – Brad, Chad, and Thad – had been united on the Wraiths, a force to be reckoned with. But no band lasts forever, and the Yellowknife Penningtons were not destined to be. Depending on how you view it, either Chad and Thad broke off simultaneously and abandoned Brad in Yellowknife, or Brad decided to go solo instead of touring in San Jose. Whatever the reason for the split, both Chad and Thad became Sabercats lifers, staying there all six of their final years. Chad was a consistent force to be reckoned with in the linebacking corps and regularly broke triple digit tackles with a Pro Bowl to boot, while Thad played a variety of roles in the backfield and regularly paid dividends as a blitzer. To lure their talents away from the Wraiths, the Sabercats gifted a cornucopia of pieces to their cross-conference trade partners. Two-sport phenom Nate Piazza stepped away from football after two seasons on the Wraiths to focus on baseball. Adrian Pitcher was an unexceptional tight end and occasional rusher for four years who never pitched the ball to the other team by fumbling. Calkewlated Chambers III, my auto-correct’s least favorite player, wrapped up a long career with one final hurrah in Yellowknife to the tune of twenty tackles. Both of the players drafted with picks in this exchange, Knute Knurtsson and Sandip Bakshi, played two seasons apiece in the black and silver (with Knurtsson earning Defensive Rookie of the Year as a safety convert and Bakshi earning a Season 15 Pro Bowl) before finding their way off the team via either trade or expansion.

#154: Arizona Outlaws and Colorado Yeti, 12/8/18
receives:
S13 1 million cap space

receives:
WR ShaDarrien LaMelllana [#119, #128]
RB LaMarcus Strike

LaMarc and LaMelll were purchased off the Outlaws for the price of a mere million in cap. LaMelllana, having rejected two prior suitors, finally found a team he was willing to play for and spent the entirety of his five-year professional career here putting up decent WR2/WR3 statlines. LaMarcus Strike felt less loyalty since he was an inactive castoff and added a meager 252 combined rushing and receiving yards during his only season in Colorado.

December 17, 2018: Week 1, Season 12

#155: Baltimore Hawks and New Orleans Second Line, 12/18/18
receives:
S Blackford Oakes [#52]
S12 1 million cap space
New Orleans S14 3rd Round (S Cam Poole)

receives:
DE Grayson Kuusela
RB Aksel Danielsson

Sadly, not all legends stay with their team forever. Blackford Oakes, the star safety destined for the Hall of Fame, swapped teams for the first time in his career. Oakes played his (first) stint in Baltimore in Season 12, racking up career-high marks in pass deflections (25) and interceptions (7) and being rewarded both with a Pro Bowl and Defensive Back of the Year. The draft pick traded alongside him, which turned into Cam Poole, never materialized into any on-field value. The Second Line received one of Baltimore’s two first-round picks from the S12 Draft, Grayson Kuusela, and their third-round pick from the same draft, Aksel Danielsson. Both had their best seasons on the team in Season 14, with the former setting a career high 98 tackles and ten sacks and the latter breaking a thousand rushing yards. Similarly, both of them got poached in the expansion draft.

#156: Orange County Otters and Yellowknife Wraiths, 1/3/19
receives:
Lower of Orange County/San Jose S13 1st Round
–> Kept original pick
CB Andre Bly Jr. [#52, #144]
S13 1.5 million cap space

receives:
Higher of Orange County/San Jose S13 1st Round
–> Kept original pick
Orange County S14 1st Round (K Stephen Harris Jr.)

The son of Hall of Very Good kicker Stephen Harris managed to go in the first round of a draft because, and I mean no disrespect here, the S14 Draft was essentially two Hall of Fame quarterback recreates and almost nothing else. Junior didn’t quite live up to his old man and stayed in Yellowknife for only two of his four professional seasons. Andre Bly Jr., whose father did not play in the NSFL, had a bit of a comeback season statistically in Season 12 with more pass deflections than he had ever managed before and then began to show signs of decline during his next and last season in Orange County, which turned out to be the last season he received significant starting snaps.

#157: Orange County Otters and Yellowknife Wraiths, 1/16/19
receives:
TE Glenn McPoyal [#63]
San Jose S13 1st Round (LB David Ginsburg) [#153]

receives:
WR Tommy Helanen [#138]
LB Elvin Enchant
S13 2 million cap space
S14 2 million cap space

As a Wraith, McPoyal had been a seven-time Pro Bowler and one of the league’s marquee tight ends. As an Otter, his production fell off a cliff, dropping precipitously from 586 yards his first season on the team to 169 and 109 his final two. David Ginsberg was a better return on investment. He stayed in Orange County all nine years of his career, earning a Pro Bowl as a defensive lineman, linebacker, and defensive flex. Tommy Helanen reached his full potential as a WR2 on Yellowknife, consistently putting up solid numbers with the exception of Season 18 when he popped off for 1,130 yards and 13 touchdowns. Elvin Enchant was somewhat enchanting in his first and final season on the team and managed thirteen pass deflection and six sacks. Yellowknife also received some cap relief for the next two seasons.

#158: Colorado Yeti and New Orleans Second Line, 1/16/19
receives:
LB Brian Mills

receives:
Colorado S13 1st Round (CB Spencer Castle)
Colorado S15 1st Round (LB Quenton Bode)
WR Rylant Wright [#145]

Here goes New Orleans trading away one of their future Hall of Famers again. Brian Mills, just hitting regression for the first time after a string of exemplary seasons on the Second Line, continued his Pro Bowl form during his lone year in Colorado with 118 tackles, four sacks, and four deflections. His prior team received quite the haul for offloading Mills. The first first they acquired became Spencer Castle, who would provide New Orleans value by being traded soon after being drafted. The real prize came from that second first, which unbeknownst to the Yeti was going to be much, much more valuable than they realized because the S15 Draft was going to be much, much deeper than they had any expectation for at this point. At that selection, which ended up being the second overall pick, New Orleans took Quenton Bode, the first member of the Fabulous Five on this trade tree. Bode was a Day 1 and thirteen-year starter for New Orleans, with four Pro Bowls and a berth in the Hall of Fame to show for it. Rylant Wright got 44 yards on five catches, so he was here too.

#160: Baltimore Hawks and Colorado Yeti, 1/18/19
receives:
Colorado S13 2nd Round (RB Corey Trevor)
Colorado S14 1st Round (DE Joseph Henry)
Colorado S14 2nd Round (LB Ricky Enblase)
Colorado S15 2nd Round (S Fatih Terim)

receives:
S Blackford Oakes [#52, #155]
TE Verso L’Alto
S13 5 million cap space

Blackford Oakes went to the Yeti for Season 13, earned a Pro Bowl (one of a career seven) with five deflections and interceptions apiece, and then bounced in free agency back to the Hawks, where he finished out the final two years of his career on his way to the Hall. Verso L’Alto went to the Yeti for Season 13, earned a Pro Bowl (one of a career ten) with 879 yards, eight touchdowns, and 31 pancakes, and then bounced in free agency back to the Hawks, where he finished out the final six years of his career on his way to the Hall. Having pushed all of their chips in to win an Ultimus, the Yeti were left with nothing when they lost the Season 13 title game to the Otters, 21-24, and both Oakes and L’Alto returned to Baltimore. By punting away the season, the Hawks were able to land Hall of Fame QB Corvo Havran in the following draft and were richer four draft picks courtesy of Colorado. The purchasing power of those picks varied considerably. Corey Trevor was mediocre at best as a second or third string rusher for two years. Joseph Henry got seven tackles in one season of service. Ricky Enblase never played. Fatih Terim was a six-year starter and one-time Pro Bowler at safety, tying for the league lead in pass deflections in Season 20 with 22.

#162: Arizona Outlaws and Baltimore Hawks, 1/25/19
receives:
S Damien Arnold [#119, #133]
Higher of Baltimore/Colorado S14 2nd Rnd
–> Baltimore S14 2nd Round (DT Dingus Hink)

receives:
DT Mark David
S Darren Morris

Dissatisfied with staying in Baltimore past his rookie contract, Damien Arnold swung for a new home in Arizona, where he played pretty well for one season but stopped earning Pro Bowls. Arizona also received a conditional pick in the S14 Draft, which was essentially worthless because of that draft’s shallowness and turned into a DSFL lifer by the name of Dingus Hink. Mark David moved the other way, landing on his fourth and final team in a six-year career and getting seven sacks on 33 total tackles. Joining him on the journey eastward was Darren Morris, whose lifelong Arizona commitment came to an end in his retirement season and who played his last hurrah as a decent presence in the Baltimore backfield.

#163: Baltimore Hawks and New Orleans Second Line, 1/30/19
receives:
CB Spencer Castle [#158]
New Orleans S15 3rd Round (RB Dorfus Jimbo)

receives:
S Dan Schneider

Schneider’s rookie season in Baltimore saw him put up 66 tackles and twelve sacks with a Pro Bowl. When he moved to New Orleans, he took on an entirely different role in the backfield that would stick for most of the rest of his career, getting a much higher 93 tackles and exchanging his pass rush numbers for a fantastic 29 pass deflections and six interceptions, both career highs and rewarded with another Pro Bowl. To get him, New Orleans gave up on recent draftee Spencer Castle, whose long career of flopping between teams started in earnest here with a single season in Baltimore. He put up a career high 103 tackles and added two sacks on some limited blitz snaps. The Hawks were also given an S15 third that became Dorfus Jimbo, a short-lived but productive running back turned safety who played four of his five career seasons and his only Pro Bowl as a Hawk.

February 4, 2019: Week 1, Season 13

#165: Arizona Outlaws and Philadelphia Liberty, 3/6/19
receives:
WR Sam Hardwick [#148]
Philadelphia S16 3rd Round (DE Hakuna Matata)

receives:
S Bucky Barnes

The Winter Soldier decided to fight for liberty, or more specifically the Liberty. In the middle of an eleven-year stint bookended by tenures on the Outlaws, Bucky Barnes was traded to Philadelphia and played two seasons fighting the good fight in the defensive backfield. Going the other way, Sam Hardwick spent those same two seasons as one of the primary pass-catchers for Andrew Reese in Arizona. He came packaged with a late draft flier spent on Hakuna Matata, who had so few worries that he played in the DSFL for the rest of his days.

#167: Baltimore Hawks and San Jose Sabercats, 3/7/19
receives:
Rights to LB Ben Horne

receives:
CB Spencer Castle [#158, #163]

Do I know why some trades specifically that the team “has the rights to” a specific player instead of, you know, just trading for the player? No, not really. Whatever the case, Ben Horne ended up on the Baltimore roster and stayed there for five years, registering some fantastic numbers across the board – especially with sacks and pass deflections – and going to the Pro Bowl four of those five seasons. Leaving Baltimore to make room was Spencer Castle, who put in two years of service for San Jose. Castle racked up 23 and 25 pass deflections both seasons playing there, both way ahead of his other career marks and the latter good enough to merit a Pro Bowl at defensive back. In fact, Castle’s services were good enough to attract the attention of the Austin Copperheads, who swiped him in the S16 Expansion Draft.

#169: Arizona Outlaws and Yellowknife Wraiths, 3/8/19
receives:
DE Avery Woodham [#126, #134]
Yellowknife S14 2nd Round (LB Leighton Lee)
Yellowknife S15 5th Round

receives:
LB Alex Selich [#129]

This trade saw Alex Selich change hands to the team whose jersey he would wear at his Hall of Fame induction. Eight long years of Selich at the helm of the defense followed, four of which ended with him getting a Pro Bowl, two of which ended with him earning his second and third career Linebacker of the Year awards (interestingly, one of those years did not also result in a Pro Bowl), and one of which ended with him collecting Defensive Player of the Year for Season 14. The Outlaws tried to somewhat replace his production with new arrival Avery Woodham, whose Arizona tenure produced remarkably consistent marks of 29, 29, 29, and 26 tackles. More promising was the draft pick that turned into Leighton Lee, a young star who got a Pro Bowl in his rookie season and who never quite matched that potential across the rest of his time as an Outlaw.

#170: Arizona Outlaws and Orange County Otters, 3/9/19
receives:
DE Norman Bagwell [#131, #145]

receives:
S14 4 million cap space

Orange County dealt away Bagwell, who had been with them for the past three years, for a decently sized chunk of change. Arizona paid four million for the privilege of holding Bagwell for all of an offseason before they flipped him in a different trade.

#171: Arizona Outlaws and Colorado Yeti, 3/11/19
receives:
Colorado S15 5th Round
Colorado S15 6th Round

receives:
WR Viggo Squanch [#109]
TE Balthazar Crindy [#110]

The Yeti must not have been feeling the value in those mid-round S15 draft picks, swapping two of them for two Arizona castoffs. Viggo Squanch enjoyed exploring the Rocky Mountains for an offseason and then got traded before the season’s start. Balthazar Crindy, on the other hand, wasn’t liking this recent trend of traded players spending only an offseason with their new teams and decided to stay on the Yeti, presumably out of spite. This apparent anger fueled a ludicrous Season 14 campaign, where Crindy nearly doubled his previous career high yardage with 1,223 and doubled his previous career high touchdown count with ten. The Pro Bowl was enough to soothe him, and his final three years were much more proportional in volume to his early career in Arizona.

#172: Colorado Yeti and Philadelphia Liberty, 3/13/19
receives:
S Jonathan Towers [#142, #148]
S14 1.5 million cap space

receives:
Colorado S15 10th Round (OL Gregor Clegaine)

With a rookie season under his belt that included 86 tackles, thirteen deflections, and three interceptions, Jonathan Towers decided it was time to stop trying once he reached Colorado’s doorstep. Two years of combined efforts accumulated only 65 tackles, three deflections, and a single pick. Colorado also got some additional monetary relief to console themselves with. The price paid was small; the S15 Draft was deep, but it wasn’t ten rounds deep, and project lineman Gregor Clegaine never escaped the minor leagues.

#174: Arizona Outlaws and New Orleans Second Line, 3/18/19
receives:
WR Felix Hasselhoff

receives:
LB Barnaby Earl [#104, #129]
S Damien Arnold [#119, #133, #162]
Arizona S15 9th Round (RB Jay Quick)

Arizona paid a pretty penny to acquire Mr. Hasselhoff from New Orleans, where he had just nearly broken 1,000 receiving yards. The first player shipped over was Barnaby Earl. The linebacker continued the violent seesaw of his statlines over three years on the Second Line – 96 tackles and nine deflections in Season 14, only 14 tackles the next year, and then 39 tackles, eleven for a loss, four sacks, and eighteen deflections for his retirement party. Damien Arnold also wounded up retiring on New Orleans, staying for four years and providing a steady presence in the backfield even if his deflection numbers plummeted once he left Arizona. A late round S15 pick thrown in as the cherry on top rewarded New Orleans with Jay Quick, who actually only ever played for Arizona during two non-consecutive seasons later in his career. The Outlaws were fortunate they got anything extra out of this trade because Hasselhoff’s 253 receiving yards in two years were not worth the value given up.

#175: New Orleans Second Line and Orange County Otters, 3/21/19
receives:
Orange County S15 4th Round (OL Brave Ulysses)
Orange County S15 8th Round (S Shaquill Williams VII)

receives:
LB Tana Keita [#131, #133, #142]

Tana Keita played two years in Orange County before retiring early, even after earning a third Pro Bowl in five years for a Season 14 with 91 tackles and ten deflections. The fourth-round pick from this trade alone, offensive line pioneer Brave Ulysses, outlasted Keita’s entire career, staying all of his seven seasons in New Orleans in the offensive and defensive trenches. He also added a Pro Bowl at both offensive lineman and defensive end, which is more than can be said about Williams VII. The latter player surprisingly played one season in New Orleans and even got two picks and eleven deflections before disappearing from the NSFL.

March 25, 2019: Week 1, Season 14

#178: Arizona Outlaws and Colorado Yeti, 3/26/19
receives:
Colorado S15 8th Round (DT Lo Mein)

receives:
DE Norman Bagwell [#131, #145, #170]
Arizona S15 10th Round (skipped)

OG S15 players will remember the S14 DSFL Draft and the hubbub over the precipitous fall of Lo Mein in that draft’s live chat. This didn’t end up being an infamous draft steal; instead, Lo Mein found his way onto the Outlaws as a result of this trade but never actually broke onto the team’s starting roster. Colorado gave up that pick to gain recurring side character Norman Bagwell, who finally bows out of this trade tree with one final season on the Yeti to wrap up his career. They also traded down to the tenth round for a selection that they ended up skipping.

#179: Baltimore Hawks and Colorado Yeti, 4/3/19
receives:
WR Howard Miller
DE Haruki Ishigawa
LB Brian Mills [#158]
CB Axel Hornbacher
WR Viggo Squanch [#109, #171]
CB Lucari Felix

receives:
Baltimore S15 1st Round
Baltimore S15 7th Round (QB Apollo Lange)
Baltimore S15 8th Round (skipped)
Baltimore S16 1st Round (TE Joshua Palmer)

Coming off of their failed title push in Season 13, Colorado decided to blow up the roster, sending a whopping six players over to Baltimore in exchange for two future firsts and two other late rounders. Howard Miller snapped his streak of six consecutive 1,100+ yard seasons with an 817 yard campaign in Season 14 and then actively decomposed on the field the next year with a single catch all year (for a touchdown, for what it’s worth). Haruki Ishigawa also decided that Baltimore would be a good place to retire, posting only seventeen tackles in one season of action. Brian Mills technically extended his Hall of Fame resume in his two seasons there, although he too became a zombie in Season 15. Tired of roaming the streets of Denver, Viggo Squanch punched his own two seasons in for Baltimore and was actually pretty productive through the air to close out his career. Lucari Felix dramatically slowed down in pretty much every statistical metric and bowed out after Season 14. Young corner Axel Hornbacher was the only player of the six to not treat Baltimore like a graveyard. Four seasons of play in the defensive backfield, with consistently good deflection numbers, were rewarded with three trips to the Pro Bowl. Colorado’s haul did not directly translate into a much better outcome. One of the first rounders was traded, the two late-round picks were either skipped or used on a project that never materialized, and the Season 16 first round pick reaped only two seasons of below-average tight end play from Joshua Palmer. (see edit)

Edit: Joshua Palmer changed his name after two seasons and played another three under the alias of Armor King. King did manage to break 400 yards in his third season but otherwise didn't make much of a splash statistically.

#180: Arizona Outlaws and Colorado Yeti, 5/3/19
receives:
Baltimore S15 1st Round (DT Ricardo Morris) [#179]
Colorado S15 4th Round

receives:
Arizona S15 2nd Round (LB Mo Berry)
Arizona S15 4th Round (RB Terry Taffy)
Baltimore S15 4th Round (S Quentin Sinclair)
Colorado S15 6th Round (DE Frasier Crane) [#171]

Just seeing all of these names again gives my S15 heart a fair bit of nostalgia. Arizona traded up to grab the first that Colorado had just secured. They used the pick on Ricardo Morris, who played six seasons for the Outlaws on the defensive line and got a Pro Bowl in Season 16 for a ten sack campaign. By trading down, Colorado got four more picks in the same draft, all of which they used. The first one used, and by far the most important for the Yeti, got Colorado a fantastic player and locker room presence with Fabulous Five alumnus and Hall of Fame linebacker Mo Berry. Berry stayed loyal to Colorado all nine years of his career, helping the franchise win its first ever Ultimus in Season 22 with Pro Bowl efforts in all but one season, four Linebacker of the Year awards (three of them consecutive), Season 15’s Defensive Rookie of the Year, and three (!!) consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards, more than any other player in league history. Terry Taffy was no slouch either, breaking 1,300+ yards from scrimmage three times at receiving back and then making a transition to defensive end over a total six years as a Yeti. Their other fourth rounder, Quentin Sinclair, stayed for seven years and had two Pro Bowl campaigns in Seasons 17 and 18 at safety. Frasier Crane wasn’t very notable, only playing two years before washing out of the league, but the gravy train had to stop somewhere.

#181: Arizona Outlaws and Austin Copperheads, 5/3/19
receives:
Austin S15 3rd Round (S Lamont McKinnie)

receives:
Colorado S15 4th Round (OL Edmond Beaver-Dantes) [#180]
San Jose S15 4th Round (S Martavius Mack)

Arizona packaged the fourth they received from Colorado to move up a round again. Their new pick netted one-time Pro Bowler Lamont McKinnie to serve as one of Arizona’s safeties all the way through the end of Season 20. Their old pick gave Austin Edmond Beaver-Dantes, one of the first successful user offensive linemen in literal years and a stalwart in the Copperheads trenches for all nine seasons of his career. Beaver-Dantes earned both a Pro Bowl and the Season 18 Offensive Lineman of the Year award, the first one handed out since Season 4 and the introduction of bots. Eight picks later at the bottom of the fourth, Austin took their own safety with Martavius Mack, who presumably enjoyed donning an Austin hat before he found out that he was being traded.

#183: Arizona Outlaws and Orange County Otters, 5/3/19
receives:
RB Ricky Adams
Orange County S15 5th Round (LB Allen Josh)
Orange County S15 7th Round (K Cameron Clutch)

receives:
Colorado S15 5th Round (K Alex Dasistwirklichseinnachname) [#171]
Yellowknife S15 5th Round (RB Apollo Reed) [#169]
Arizona S15 6th Round (DT Cale Clay)

The steadily deteriorating Ricky Adams headlined the haul for Arizona in this trade. Although both his rushing and receiving totals fell, Adams still reached 1,354 yards from scrimmage in his lone Arizona season. The Outlaws busted on their two picks, selecting S14 DSFL Draft first overall pick Allen Josh in the fifth and Cameron Clutch in the seventh. The former never played and the latter started only one season for Arizona. On the other side of the trade, the Evil Empire of Plot Armor also known as Orange County emerged with two fifth-round picks that both somehow turned into Hall of Famers. Alex D., the king of volume, attempted more field goals and extra points than anyone else in league history and, with 1,555 points, is the ISFL’s all-time leading scorer. Apollo Reed earned two Pro Bowls in five years for Orange County, but only crossed the four-digit mark once and didn’t truly reach his best years until he was traded later to Baltimore. Cale Clay was also drafted.

#185: Arizona Outlaws and Austin Copperheads, 5/3/19
receives:
S Martavius Mack [#181]

receives:
Arizona S16 1st Round (QB Peter Larson)

Having just invested a fourth-round pick on drafting him, Austin spun Martavius Mack into a first in the following S16 Draft. Mack traveled to Arizona and stayed there for two years with a Pro Bowl in Season 16 for coming away with three sacks, eight deflections, and five interceptions. Austin’s replacement for Mack ended up being quarterback turned tight end Peter Larson, who played ten whole years as a Copperhead but never managed to really break into star level.

May 13, 2019: Week 1, Season 15

#189: Colorado Yeti and Yellowknife Wraiths, 6/19/19
receives:
S Knute Knurtsson [#153]

receives:
S16 2 million cap space

Knute Knurtsson cost the Yeti 2 million in cap space to secure. He played three years in the backfield with consistent and unremarkable statlines to show for it, although he did score twice off of turnovers.

Continued in Volume III

[infinitempg]

oh my god the great yeti all-in fuck up and rebuild of S13-16 is in here that's amazing

#158: Colorado Yeti and New Orleans Second Line, 1/16/19
receives:
LB Brian Mills

receives:
Colorado S13 1st Round (CB Spencer Castle)
Colorado S15 1st Round (LB Quenton Bode)
WR Rylant Wright [#145]

#160: Baltimore Hawks and Colorado Yeti, 1/18/19
receives:
Colorado S13 2nd Round (RB Corey Trevor)
Colorado S14 1st Round (DE Joseph Henry)
Colorado S14 2nd Round (LB Ricky Enblase)
Colorado S15 2nd Round (S Fatih Terim)

receives:
S Blackford Oakes [#52, #155]
TE Verso L’Alto
S13 5 million cap space

We were "pretty okay" after S12 and figuring that our window was closing with half our 0-32 players from before disappearing but a solid S12 Draft class, we went all in and threw away a ton of picks before we knew S15 was going to be the draft of legends. All of these players we picked up were still in the primes of their careers, and all things considered we should have finished better than 8-6. It would have been all worth it if we had won that Ultimus but unfortunately I think fate knew we didn't deserve to win on a desperation play.

#179: Baltimore Hawks and Colorado Yeti, 4/3/19
receives:
WR Howard Miller
DE Haruki Ishigawa
LB Brian Mills [#158]
CB Axel Hornbacher
WR Viggo Squanch [#109, #171]
CB Lucari Felix

receives:
Baltimore S15 1st Round
Baltimore S15 7th Round (QB Apollo Lange)
Baltimore S15 8th Round (skipped)
Baltimore S16 1st Round (TE Joshua Palmer)

#180: Arizona Outlaws and Colorado Yeti, 5/3/19
receives:
Baltimore S15 1st Round (DT Ricardo Morris) [#179]
Colorado S15 4th Round

receives:
Arizona S15 2nd Round (LB Mo Berry)
Arizona S15 4th Round (RB Terry Taffy)
Baltimore S15 4th Round (S Quentin Sinclair)
Colorado S15 6th Round (DE Frasier Crane) [#171]

All things considered I think this is one of the best trade sequences we ever made. Hidden in this context is the time we tried to trade our own GM and add a $20M cap penalty if he didn't stay on that team the next year, but that got quite swiftly shot down by HO. Baltimore used this to build what was probably the most insane WR room in league history - they had so many WRs that Howard Miller, the MVP two seasons ago, couldn't even get a spot on the field. Honestly, this was not the best move from Baltimore as many of the players ended up becoming a dead weight on their cap situation and their depth chart.

Essentially this is how this went for the Yeti:

OUT:
Howard Miller (old and retiring)
Haruki Ishigawa (old and retiring)
Brian Mills (old and retiring)
Axel Hornbacher (okay, actually pretty good)
Viggo Squanch (old and retiring)
Lucari Felix (bust)
Edmond Beaver-Dantes (COL S15 R4 Pick - though I don't think we were going to take him)

IN:
Mo Berry (ARI S15 R2 Pick - Hall of Famer)
Terry Taffy (ARI S15 R4 Pick - Solid role player)
Quentin Sinclair (BAL S15 R4 Pick - Solid role player)
Joshua Palmer (BAL S16 R1 Pick - Solid but short-lived role player)
Frasier Crane (COL S15 R6 Pick - bust)

We shipped off 4 old farts, a bust, a decent (but not world-changing) player, and a R4 pick for a Hall of Famer and three key role players that helped build the foundation for the eventual S22 Ultimus Run. This is probably the turning point of the Yeti - before we were the laughing stock, and now everyone says FTY. It started here.

[Starboy]

Joshua Palmer (BAL S16 R1 Pick - Solid but short-lived role player)