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Most any team that trades up in a given draft gets lauded for it. They typically get the biggest name, best pedigreed player and therefore the initial impression is that their aggressiveness got them the better end of the deal.
Problem is, because the player the trade up team got becomes the headline, what the trade down team does with their end often gets overlooked. Case in point, let's take a look at the Redskins deal for Robert Griffin III.
The Redskins surrendered 3 first round picks and 1 second to the Ramss for RG3 and they got their man. If he ends up being a franchise type QB, then very few people will ever criticize them for the trade. But take a second to think what St. Louis got. They did not simply get 4 picks for 1. They got even further ammunition to deal. Here's what the RG3 deal has netted them so far.
They traded the #6 overall pick (from Washington) to Dallas for #14 and #45. They would then trade that #45 pick to Chicago for picks #50 and #150. So already, what was previously 4 picks has now become 6 picks for RG3.
With all those picks they drafted DT Michael Brockers, CB Janoris Jenkins, RB Isaiah Pead and OG Rokevious Watkins.
And here's the kicker... They still have two more first round picks to play with for this deal alone. They could end up turning RG3 into 8, maybe 9 players or more, at least 5-6 of which will be 1st and 2nd round picks and likely starters. And lets also not forget that they still own all of their own first round picks for the next 2 seasons.
How good does RG3 have to be to have made this worth it? Sure, there will be people who argue that since QB is the most important position that he doesn't have to equal the value of all these players. But how close does he have to get? The fact is that if this deal works out the best for both teams, the Rams will have set themselves up for a Super Bowl win far better than the Redskins will have.
And even if RG3 is good, the Redskins better pray that the likes of Ryan Tannehill, Brandon Weeden, Brock Osweiler or Kirk Cousins aren't... Because if they could have added one of those guys (which they did ironically) and gotten 6-7 other players as well instead of RG3, then this has to go down as one of the most lopsided deals in league history... And this is even if RG3 is good.