NFL Picks, Week 7: 'Greek' says ...

[EDITOR'S NOTE: My apologies for the fact that 'Greek's picks did not appear last week. That was my fault, not his. Anyway, 'Greek' is back in business this week.]

Dallas gets Roy Williams for draft picks. That's it, unless you want to discuss the Bills trading their 4th defensive tackle, John McCargo to the Colts for a 4th round pick. Oh you don't? Seriously? Well since he failed his physical and was shipped back to Buffalo anyway, I guess there really isn't much to talk about from this year's trade deadline.

Shocking, I know. The NFL, the most highly visible and marketed sport in America, is the only one that has not figured out how to make the trade deadline the most important mid-season date on the schedule. Originally, the trade deadline was so ominous because teams did not know how to operate around the constraints of the salary cap and did not want to end up paying for a player to help out another team. However, teams have gotten both more savvy in dealing with the cap, and have gotten more flexibility as the cap has increased exponentially over the years.

So what's the problem? Look no further than Carl Peterson. In any other sport the Kansas City Chiefs would have been sellers in this market. They have three chips, Tony Gonzalez, Larry Johnson, and Patrick Surtain that could easily have been moved. What did Peterson do? He sat at his desk waiting for someone to offer the world for a 30-something tight end, a malcontent who was just charged with his third count of assault, and a cornerback who is clearly on the decline, and can only fit into certain systems.

This is a team that is going nowhere and he held his players and his team hostage by not pulling the trigger. I have more of a vested interest in this since the Bills were one of the teams rumored to have offered a third-round pick for Gonzalez, but look at recent history. TO got traded to the Ravens initially, though he blocked it somehow, for a second-round pick. Arguably the top player at his position in the prime of his career was worth only a second-round pick.

The trade that actually went through was for a fifth-round pick and a bit player. And Peterson feels that he should get a second round pick at least for Gonzalez? He's a great player, but when you need a QB, an offensive line, a second receiver, and nearly every position on defense, sometimes you have to give something up.

Say what you want about Jerry Jones, but he realized that the draft is a crapshoot, and there was a "proven" commodity available so he made the move for Roy Williams. And a team with no GM, and one that has basically been operating without one for the past decade or so, managed to get three picks out of this deal. This is how the trade deadline works in every other major American sport, but until incompetent GM's are taken out of power, as I'm sure nearly every Chiefs fan can attest to, the NFL deadline will be a non-entity, and the hopes for a huge midseason pickup that can change the face of your team will remain somewhere between slim and none.

Week 7 Picks:

Tennessee at Kansas City (+9)
San Diego at Buffalo (Pick)
Pittsburgh (-9.5) at Cincinnati
Baltimore (+3) at Miami
Dallas (-7) at St. Louis
Minnesota (+3) at Chicago
New Orleans at Carolina (-3)
San Francisco (+10.5) at NY Giants
Detroit (+9.5) at Houston
NY Jets at Oakland (+3)
Cleveland (+7.5) at Washington
Indianapolis (-1.5) at Green Bay
Seattle (+10.5) at Tampa Bay
Denver (+3) at New England

Last Week: 8-6
Season: 51-34-3