by Joe Guenther

Created on: March 22, 2007   Last Updated: May 07, 2011

The Atlanta Falcons traded the rights to highly regarded back-up quarterback Matt Schuab to the Houston Texans. Here's how the trade breaks down:

Atlanta Gets:
#8 pick in this years draft
#40 pick in this years draft (#8 pick round two)
and the Houston Texans 2nd round pick in next years draft.

Houston Gets:
#10 pick in this years draft
QB Matt Schuab

Notes: The deal is contingent upon the Texans securing a long term contract with Schuab. A deal is reported on ESPN.Com to already be in place.

Team Analysis:

Houston Texans:

The Texans move down to the end of the top ten in a swap of first round picks. This seems inconsequential at first but if the Texans are still able to land the player the have targeted they will receive a significant salary cap savings. With respects to Schuab he is a well-regarded player in NFL circles. He's got good field presence and awareness, is able to make all the NFL throws, and is more mobile than current QB David Carr. Schuab is a good character guy and will fit well as a mobile QB in the West Coast system that Houston coach Gary Kubiak utilizes. I would have liked to see next years second round pick be a second or third round pick based on Schuabs numbers, but Schuab is a hot commodity and that raised his value. A solid trade and I look forward to Schuab and Carr competing for the #1 job in Houston.

Atlanta Falcons:

The Falcons wanted to keep Schuab because he was a great insurance policy for Mike Vick, but needed to trade him for a couple reasons. The first is that he was a Restricted Free Agent this year and would have left next year with no compensation to the Falcons. The second is that the Falcons lack depth and needed these extra picks to get more players. Lastly, the Falcons are Salary Cap tied to Mike Vick and his long term contract. To cut Vick or trade Vick and go with Matt as your starting quarterback with be cap suicide for the Falcons. By moving up in the first round the Falcons put themselves in position to either get a higher rated player or trade up with a package or picks for WR Calvin Johnson of Georgia Tech. Rich Mickay the Falcons GM is getting tremendous pressure from the Atlanta faithful to trade up in the draft to get the hometown hero.

Overall:

This is a BIG trade the ramifications of which will be felt by both teams for some time. It's the type of trade that sends franchises in new and promising directions.

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