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Published on 08/28/2008 at Thu Aug 28 13:32.
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Denver Broncos Trade Montrae Holland to Dallas Cowboys

Posted Thu Aug 28th by

Montrae Holland

Straight out of the “WTF Files,” the Denver Broncos have traded guard Montrae Holland to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2010 5th round draft pick.

After reporting to training camp overweight, Holland spent two weeks pushing the sled and getting back into football shape. A 16-game starter in 2007, Holland was arguably the Broncos’ best offensive lineman. His absence in training camp was a surprise, and he subsequently lost his starting job to third year versatile OL Chris Kuper.

There was nothing apparent to suggest that he was in Mike Shanahan‘s fabled “doghouse” – comments from the coach and staff were encouraging, and sounded as if they were supporting Holland’s battle back to the football field. This comes as a big surprise 11 days from the start of the regular season in Oakland.

I hate this move. Simply hate it. Holland gave us phenomenal depth, in one person. Anyone goes down, and the Broncos could shuffle a few of their current starters around (particularly Kuper), move Holland up to RG, and not miss a beat. Now the depth is shaky to say the least. I like the confidence in Kuper, but having 6 (7 counting Nalen-Wiegmann) starting-caliber linemen is never a bad thing! I simply hate this move. You?

  • http://danstallbaum.com dstall

    Me too!

  • http://www.inthecheapseats.com Dario

    I’m less concerned about the trade being made than I am about the value they got back. 17 game starter for a 5th round pick in two years… That’s as befuddeling as making the trade to begin with.

  • http://broncos-denver-broncos.blogspot.com/ Ian Henson

    Uh oh Kyle, who are you going to cheer for now? Polumbo? Trade doesn’t really make sense, but neither did Randy Moss for a fourth rounder…

    Anyway, what round did we pick up Ryan Torain in?

  • jvill

    Ug. Bizarre. I can only assume he was going to be cut.

    Ian Henson: Trade doesn’t really make sense, but neither did Randy Moss for a fourth rounder…

    Right. So, following your example, we’re the idiots who traded away Randy Moss. Excellent.

    Ian Henson: Anyway, what round did we pick up Ryan Torain in?

    Draft round = 5
    Actual games played = 0

    Kevin Kasper also looked great in practice…

  • micb5000

    I’m with you Kyle. This trade makes no sense from a depth perspective, and considering OL was one of the concerns coming in this year.

  • Mark in Carolina

    only thing i can come up with is that Holland wasn’t gonna make the 53 man roster, for what ever reason. If that is the case, a 5th round in two years > nothing.

    What are the salary cap implications in trading vs cutting?

  • http://merlinofchaos.livejournal.com E. Halsey Miles

    This is what you do to a veteran you respect who has been relegated to a backup position that you don’t believe should be a backup. It’s…certainly unexpected, I had definitely pencilled Holland in to the 53 man roster, if you read later into the comments you can see that I was really struggling to find room to keep everyone on the O-line who should be kept.

    This move makes it easier to keep Polumbus and K-Lich on the active roster; we know K-Lich can play guard and center and Polumbus can play tackle.

    This doesn’t resolve what’s going on with Nalen/Wiegmann, though. I’m still curious there.

  • andy b.

    Yeeesh. Don’t worry, Shanny is an Ultimate Leader. I’m sure he had his reasons.
    Okay, sorry to keep picking on Shannahan, I was just kind of surprised my last comment on His Ultimacy got such a rise out of people. Don’t worry, guys, you can’t be unceremoniously dumped to the curb like Mason was! He can’t fire the people who don’t work for him.

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Jonathan Douglas

    jvill gets extra points for the Kevin Kasper reference! Boy that brings back memories… mostly bad. :)

  • http://birty.blogspot.com mikebirty

    Montrae Holland 2008 = Gerrard Warren 2007

    Makes no sense, will probably come back to haunt the Broncos. There’s always one this time of year. But you move on. I’m surprised I’ve not heard more about Gandy.

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Jonathan Douglas

    Actually, it seems more like the weird Chris Myers trade to the Texans. I just don’t understand why we’re trading away our O-line talent for peanuts?

  • orangecrush74

    Why didn’t they try to get one of the cowboys many MLB? Burnett is damn good player when he gets PT.

  • http://merlinofchaos.livejournal.com E. Halsey Miles

    Chris Myers is easy to explain — he was an RFA and the Texans were going to sign him and we weren’t going to match their offer sheet because they’re giving him starter money. So instead of letting them sign him and compensating us with a pick, we just traded him for the same pick they would’ve given us in compensation.

    He gets to play as a starter for Texas, but in our system he’d still be a backup.

    I suspect there’s similar going on with Holland.

    Warren’s another story altogether and it had more to do with Jim Bates trying to retool the defense to meet his scheme and FAILING.

    Retool the scheme to match the players, not the other way around. It’s the freakin’ rule and we broke it.

  • http://broncos-denver-broncos.blogspot.com/ Ian Henson

    jvill- sorry, I should have made it more apparent that I was being sarcastic. I wasn’t being sarcastic about Torain though, yeah he went down. However, Denver’s D chasing him around the field through training camp benefited. As seen against Dallas, Green Bay and Houston.

    I guess the best news of all is that the Broncos are down to 73 and we won’t have to lose someone that we really like elsewhere on the roster.

  • Jaiu

    i wonder if he threw his Bronco cup away…”Bronco’s Cup!”

  • http://sports-fan.net NFL Throwback

    A little surprised but at least they got something for nothing!

  • http://mrherculesrockefeller.blogspot.com hercules rockefeller

    Terrible, terrible move.

  • Ryan

    Well I think there is a lot to be said about someone’s preparedness to play. The fact that he came in so fat really shows a tremendous lack of dedication to the organization and to his career. I’m okay with the trade since I think we should have cut him…at least this way we can get the next Terrel Davis in 2010.

  • flbronc

    hate to see a seminole go off our roster. but i dont think we should hit the panic button and mail in the season because we traded him. obviously we wern’t planning on using him much this season, so why not get a pick for him- and save the salary and roster spot in the process. everybody knows that we need to bring up more of our own talent throught the draft. we havent been the best at it so the more the merrier. not crazy about it being 2 drafts away, but i didnt get consulted in the negotiations.

  • jcampb72

    Im sure the Cowboys love it….this is just another shanahan move exerting his power over his team. Maybe not a great move depth wise, but overall it ensures that everybody must be on board or jump ship.

  • Roy

    This moves sucks. Wow, does this suck.

  • shaun

    I think this is a good trade, we get a fifth round pick for a person who came to camp overweight and was in a contract year and unlikely to get resigned

  • kerry

    this is a great move! i said this would happen 3 weeks ago. Kuper is playing too well and is more athletic, and younger then Holland. depth schmepth. Gandy, Lichty an Weigmann (when Nalen comes back) will be the backups and that is plenty of depth. Polumbus is the backup OT along with Pears. this is a good move. no point in keeping someone around that cant even have the self discipline to show up to his job prepared.

  • broncosmang

    Wow, we’re placing a lot of faith in three guys who were hurt for all or most of last season. I love Hamilton, Harris, and Nalen, but we’re banking on all those guys being healthy. If they’re not how do you like a line of Clady, Alexander, Weigman, Kuper and Pears? Much rather have Montrae as insurance until we’re sure where we stand.

    And after seeing Hixon and Warren contribute for other teams, can’t we admit that we’re tired of the knee jerk trades and cuts?