For all the contributions Mike Shanahan made to the Denver Broncos, few will choose to remember him for his genius personnel decisions. With train-wreck acquisitions like Daryl Gardner, Dale Carter, Willie Middlebrooks, and Maurice Clarett (among others), there’s a broad swath of poor player choices for which to criticize Shanahan. However, the 2004 trade that sent Clinton Portis to Washington in exchange for Champ Bailey isn’t one of them.
First of all, it wasn’t a straight up, player-for-player trade. What most Broncos fans have forgotten was that in addition to Champ Bailey, Washington sent a 2nd round pick to Denver in exchange for Portis.