Best Trade

See it in this light: Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan is so good at developing running backs (good morning, Terrell, how's the leg?) and working them into the West Coast offense that he could probably pluck a 160-pounder out of junior college and turn him into an all-pro. By contrast, Shanny's had bad luck with cornerbacks (Dale Carter, Willie Middlebrooks, et al.). So when the Washington Redskins said they'd part with the best CB in the biz, Champ Bailey, Shanahan was willing to sacrifice his 1,500-yard-per-season ball carrier, Clinton Portis. If all goes well, Bailey will greatly relieve the pressure on Denver's harried secondary and make a few grabs at the depleted wide-receiver spot, too. Meanwhile, ex-Marine Mike Anderson will be trying so hard to get out of the coach's doghouse that he'll re-emerge from his cloud of pot smoke as a solid backup. That's our theory, anyway.