Prior to the Buffalo Bills trading away linebacker Reggie Ragland on Monday, multiple reports had circulated throughout the summer suggesting that Ragland was slow in recovering from the knee injury that kept him him out for all of the 2016 season. On Tuesday, Bills head coach Sean McDermott addressed the team’s reasoning for parting with Ragland.
"It was more what Preston Brown did," McDermott said. "Preston Brown has had a great camp. He has proven himself as a starting middle linebacker for us. I like the way the defense is playing. So it's more of what Preston did rather than what Reggie didn't do."
Oh, the irony. Originally when former general manager Doug Whaley drafted Ragland in the second round of the 2016 draft, he was supposed to come in from Day 1 and take Brown’s job. Ragland appeared to be on his way to doing just that before getting stung by the injury bug, especially with former coach Rex Ryan in his corner. But just as in life one can only stand on past accomplishments for so long. There needs to be continual productivity.
"We're into good football players and Reggie is a good football player," McDermott said. "It was just the right fit for us in terms of the trade. It worked out for both sides for Kansas City and ourselves. That's why we pulled the trigger. We feel like we got a good draft pick and we know how important those are for building this football team for many years to come."
It’s hard to really knock McDermott and the front office for this trade. They turned a player who reportedly wasn’t even a lock to make the final roster into a future fourth-round pick. And as a added bonus, Brown, who is coming off the best season of his career, can now breathe a sigh of relief with Ragland no longer in Buffalo.