NEWSLETTER
Green Bay Packers safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix posted an ominous tweet 17 minutes before the NFL’s trade deadline …
https://twitter.com/haha_cd6/status/1057357452256182273
… but because players can troll with their tweets, I wasn’t sure how to interpret such a post. Three minutes later, I had some much-needed clarity:
Source: #Packers S Haha Clinton-Dix has been traded to the #Redskins.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 30, 2018
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reports Green Bay has traded Clinton-Dix to Washington in a deal that has potential postseason ramifications for the two teams involved – not to mention the teams in their respective divisions.
As for the compensation, ESPN’s Adam Schefter is on the case:
Comp update: Redskins traded a 2019 fourth-round pick to Packers for Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 30, 2018
A fourth-round pick is better compensation than not getting anything at all, but it significantly downgrades the Green Bay secondary.
It’s a bit of a stunner because the Packers are right in the thick of the NFC North race and Clinton-Dix was the team’s highest-rated safety. Wait, strike that. Clinton-Dix is the third-highest-graded safety in football, according to Pro Football Focus. Only Earl Thomas and D.J. Swearinger have a higher overall grade at safety than Clinton-Dix’s 87.7. And with Thomas out for the year, that means Washington now boasts PFF’s two highest-graded safeties who are active. Tack on Josh Norman’s presence at cornerback and the football team that makes its home in our nation’s capitol has a secondary you probably don’t want to throw against too often.
On the other hand, maybe we shouldn’t be all that surprised. Earlier in October, Clinton-Dix expressed his belief that he wasn’t long for Green Bay.
Here’s what we wrote at the time:
The future is uncertain for every NFL player, but it’s not often when one comes out and flat out says it.
At least, not the way Packers safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix just did: “Right now, I’m playing each and every game like it’s my last. I don’t think I’m going to be here,” Packers safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix told Jason Wilde of the Wisconson State Journal. “That’s how I look at it. I just (have to) be honest with myself. You’ve got to play it game-by-game. Whether we’re losing by 60 points, you’ve got to go out there and perform.”
As it turns out, Clinton-Dix – who was in the fifth year of his rookie scale deal – was correct in seeing the writing on the wall. He’ll play out his contract with NFC East leaders and seek a new deal in the offseason. We’ll sort out the ramifications for the NFC North when more details emerge. In the meantime, this deal joins two others (Ty Montgomery to the Ravens and Golden Tate to the Eagles) that would seem to make the NFC North a friendlier place for the Bears this season.
