Rumor: Michael Clayton Involved in Lito Trade?

Would you be happy if the Eagles could score WR Michael Clayton and a late second round pick in tomorrow's draft? Clayton had a stellar rookie year but has come back to Earth lately. He does have some nice size at 6 foot 4. [FanHouse]

Comments

[DSD]

Eagles need a playmaking burner, not a posession receiver.

[Chamomiles Davis]

Michael Clayton, a football player... is this a trade rumor or George Clooney's last two movie roles?

[Nick]

"has come back to Earth" is an ENORMOUS UNDERSTATEMENT.

here are his stats:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/stats?playerId=5540

rookie season: 16 games, 80 recs, 1193 yds, 7 tds
past three seasons: 40 games, 87 recs, 1029 yds, ONE TOUCHDOWN.

what's worse, last season was his worst yet (22 catches, 301 yards, 0 tds in 12 games)

[Dubs]

The Eagles already have enough mediocre receivers. I'd rather keep Lito and have a great secondary than get rid of him for this.

[Wrecked'Em]

Unless they can get a first rounder or a legit receiver (of the Anquan Boldin caliber), they should hang on to Lito. We've been burnt before by having subpar nickel corners, and Lito could add a nice element to the return game. And besides, don't the Birds already have about 15 draft picks? Time to start packaging them and moving up in the draft instead of stockpiling more...

[AndyG]

Clayton had injury issues his second season, and I really expected a nice return from him last year. It never happened and I really have no idea why. My working hypothesis centered around Galloway paying the QBs to only throw to him, but that *may* not be true.

I'm perplexed by Clayton. He's got talent, but I wonder if his drive is gone. I wonder if the injuries continue to mount.

I wouldn't be sad to see Clayton work with the Eagles, but I wouldn't start booking tickets for the SB if it happened. There would be a very outside chance Clayton and McNabb click and he returned to the 1000 yard mark.

[johndewar]

Geez, I don't know. Do we need another unproven receiver? Haven't we had enough of the Hank Basketts of the world? Yeah, I know Clayton has a good pedigree, but damn, no one knows if he's any good or not.

We need the alpha dog receiver, not another puppy in the litter begging for attention. Show me Boldin or Williams or even Ocho Cinco.

[Michael C]

I agree; I don't dislike Clayton, but I have a hard time seeing him as much of an improvement over what we already have.

[theKrisheim]

chris simms

bruce gradkowski

brian griese

jeff garcia

[enrico]

I hear ya, Krish, until you get to Garcia. I think he's proved he can play at a high level in this league.

[How do you spell retard?]

Michael Clayton, Reggie Brown, Jason Avant, Kevin Curtis. How many possesion receivers do the Eagles need?
And Hank Baskett(is he still on the team?) also has great size.

[zack]

Michael Clayton? I mean, he seemed like a smart guy and a helluva lawyer, but I don't see him executing a deep slant with any precision at all.

[Kulp]

Michael Clayton is at least better than a fifth-round pick. Let's take a moment and look at some of the positives.

He's a young receiver who has posted a 1,000 yard/7 TD season, even if it was four years ago. He's got good size at 6'4" and is described as physical and an excellent run blocker. He appeared to make some strides toward the end of '07, catching 16 passes for 192 yards in the final four weeks.

I'll admit, receivers who flame out like Clayton rarely return to form, especially when there are various injuries involved. But where is the risk? If he comes into camp and it's not working out, they cut him. A fifth round pick is going to have a hard time making the roster this year anyway.

There are some strong feelings this isn't enough for Lito, but a month ago most said there is no way the Eagles could keep him. The fact is, short of another Pro Bowl season, his value can only decrease from this year to next. Count me among those that wouldn't mind having him back, but I won't judge the trade negatively until I see what they do with the extra pick.