You make a lot of solid points, but not sure if I completely agree with your baseline premise.

So, when the shoe was on the other foot and the Ravens D was bouncing us out of the playoffs- it did not "feel" like they had our number?

How about the Manning-led Colts or Donks when they always found a way to beat us? How about losing to Tom Fucking Brady so many times in HUGE games?

What the Ravens did for us would be like us shipping Chris Jones to the Bucs after their defense just manhandled us in the SB. So maybe a move like that would have kept us ahead of the Chargers, Donks, and Faders- but who cares if you don't win the SB. Being the third-best team every year does not matter, only championships.
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I think the issue with that comparison is that it wasn't only Tom Brady who had our number in the Alex Smith years, it was Tom Brady & New England, The Steelers, and the Broncos & Peyton Manning (before his arm fell off). We went into the playoffs every year with the hope that we could somehow avoid every one of those teams, or that if we met them, enough breaks could go our way to put us over the top. It never happened, and likely never would have (The Chiefs do not come back from 0-24 against the Texans with Alex Smith. They do not go 12-4 and would not have had HFA with Alex Smith in 2018-2019. I point this out because I do not think our season ends against Tom Brady in either year with Alex - but against someone else who could exploit his weaknesses - like that garbage Titan team in 2017).

The Ravens are in a similar spot, at the moment, it's not just the Chiefs; it's the Chiefs, the Bills, and they better hope the Browns don't find a competent defense this offseason. At the moment, their objective is to improve their team to overcome a weakness that multiple teams can exploit, rather than simply overcoming just us.

Now, would I have made the trade if I were the Ravens? Hell no. Would Chiefsplanet, like much of Ravens twitter, have been melting down about a trade like this? Yes. But, the Ravens have been one of the best teams in the NFL at drafting and their talent evaluation over the last few seasons. If they believe they can get their guys to get over the hump, I think they've earned the leeway to give it a shot.
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Are you talking about how WE the fans would feel or the team? Because this whole argument is about the Ravens' rationale for trading Brown to a "rival". I can guarantee you the Chiefs didn't feel like the Ravens had our number. They felt like our team needed to get better in order to beat them.

First of all, the Bucs are in the NFC and the chances of meeting them in the SB again are pretty slim. In fact, we already have that case proven out - we traded Dee Ford to the 49ers and then saw him in the Super Bowl. Do you think the Chiefs even thought about that possibility when they traded him or did they take the best package of picks to get his salary off the books?

Second, you basically just nuked O.City's argument from orbit. The argument is the the Ravens should have traded Brown to anywhere other than the Chiefs, preferably to the NFC. But then they could be trading him to someone they're going to play in the Super Bowl. So they probably just shouldn't trade him at all. See where this is leading? If teams were going to operate out of the fear of potentially helping another team win games down the road, there would never be any trades in the NFL ever. NFL teams just don't operate that way.

Finally, you can't compare us to the Ravens in that respect. We've already been to the Super Bowl. Twice. We're not competing with the division right now, we're competing with the other division WINNERS. The Ravens didn't even win their division last year and came within one game of 3rd place, so they're not on the same level as the Chiefs when it comes to who they're directly competing with for standings. The Ravens needed those extra picks to help them compete with the Steelers and Browns. The Chiefs aren't really even on their radar right now, they need to QUALIFY for the playoffs first before they worry about that.
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Yep. Exactly.
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Wasn't Foxy Brown an old 70's movie?
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Exactly, plus every one of those teams has just as much of a chance of having to play KC as well. And everyone that does now stands a better chance of losing to KC. And those losses help the Ravens more than a single loss hurts them.
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sigh.

Thank god it's Draft day.
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Great movie!!!!
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The odds are in your favor though if you can trade a player to the other conference. If you meet them in the SB, you just deal with it.

I think in the end the Ravens just did what they had to do and take the best offer and move on. It's not ideal to improve someone you likely will have to beat to achieve anything, but it is what it is.
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The Chiefs have played the Ravens in each of the last two years. They've never met in the playoffs in their current iterations. It appears they will be playing in Week 1 this next season, which in the grand scheme of things is largely meaningless. Meaning the odds of the Ravens getting the Chiefs in the playoffs aren't all that much higher than them seeing an NFC team along the way or even in the Super Bowl, should they be good enough to get there.

The Ravens simply can't be worried about the Chiefs. They have to be worried about the Steelers and Browns first and then the Bills and teams like that next.

If the Ravens were the 2nd-best team in the conference, you might have a point about them and the Chiefs. They're BARELY the 2nd-best team in their own division and if Cleveland improves at all, they might end up 3rd and out of the playoffs altogether.

This whole conversation is putting the cart before the horse. Those picks are FAR more important to the Ravens than Orlando Brown or the team he was traded to.
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It was pure comedy. Every GM acted completely retarded.
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Yep.
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The Steelers are the 90's Chiefs at best with Big ben being a shell and I dont' think the D will be what it was last year. I doubt they're too worried there.

The Browns for sure.

But the Chiefs are the class of the AFC so everyone should be gunning for them.
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They play twice a year. If the Ravens can't beat the Steelers (and they haven't consistently) then they can't compete for a division title, which is the only way to guarantee a playoff spot. They won't EVER face the Chiefs if they don't even make the playoffs.

You gun for them by putting the absolute best team you can on the field. The Ravens are better without Brown and with those draft picks.

You're just not thinking this through. Teams don't approach this the way fans do. They just don't.
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Ideally with teh draft picks, yes. But it's unknown. Kind of like with teh Chiefs trading up for a LT. It's likely he'd be better but you just never know. Draft picks are unknown.

It's not ideal for them to trade him to KC, but they had to get what they can get. I'm on board with that. I get it. I DM'd back and forth with Middlekauf who was under Andy in Philly and after talking to you guys here, I've definitely changed the tune on it.

I still imagine trading him to KC wasn't their first option, but they got what they could and moved on.
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