On paper, every roster scenario sounds good. Trade for this player. Sign this guy. Make this move, cruise to a Lombardi, start writing the Hall of Fame speech. The NFL is far more complex with layers to consider. Personality. Financial. Scheme. Arthur Smith knows playing armchair quarterback is easy. Doing it in real life is hard.
“Sometimes people get lost and they’re acting like my 11-year-old playing Madden with the salary cap off and think you can just stockpile players,” Smith said via a team-issued transcript when asked about the balance of trading for players midseason. “That’s not real life. So there are a lot of great players out there. But the chemistry and fit, what I’ve learned over the years, matters.”
As someone who grew up being the greatest general manager Madden 05 has ever seen, it’s a fair critique, and by-product of the fantasy football boom. Trades and additions and subtractions are made with the click of a button. No consideration for cost or fit, elements that play a role in every roster move a team makes. Trading for Davante Adams sounds like a great plan until you have to work out the cost of keeping him long-term.
It doesn’t make all suggestions invalid. It just fails to capture the nuance and complexity of additions, especially big ones like the Steelers were linked to before settling on New York Jets WR Mike Williams. He was far more economical, costing just a fifth-round pick with a relatively low base salary.
Making deadline deals can push teams eyeing a playoff run over the top. But Smith now has to work Williams into the system in the middle of a season while Williams has to learn a new system. Again.
“You have to be mindful of guys that have been here, guys that have been doing really well for us,” Smith said. “Put up a guy that comes in mid-year, you’re taking reps from someone else.”
Still, Williams was added for a reason. To address a hole in the roster, the Steelers long-searching for a wide receiver since dealing Diontae Johnson nearly eight months ago. And it’s Smith’s job to make it all work. His headset might be different than in a video game but real life or virtual, he’s in control of the outcome.
