Weekly Takes - Monday, March 18 Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, March 18 Edition 

1. My three stars from the Maple Leafs dominant win over the Flyers on Thursday…

1. Tyler Bertuzzi 

2. Auston Matthews 

3. William Nylander 

2. I love the Dylan Cease trade for the Padres.

The National League is loaded at the top with the Dodgers and Braves, yes, but it lacks depth. The Padres should be the odds-on-favourite to secure the last playoff spot in the NL. 

3. As we watch the Raptors tank in epic fashion, between brutally losing to the lowly Pistons and sitting out numerous players each night, it serves as a reminder of how painful a rebuild can be in basketball.

It is so much worse than any other sport.

4. The Justin Fields trade is the ultimate home run trade that the Steelers had to make.

Russell Wilson raises the Steelers floor in 2024, but you are not winning a Super Bowl with him as your quarterback. Not in a conference with Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, and CJ Stroud. So, they had to draft or trade for a quarterback that had enough potential to become an elite quarterback. 

Fields is that. And it costs Omar Khan nothing. 

5. My NFL free agency winners and losers…

Winners…

• Falcons 

• Bears 

• Commanders 

• Titans 

• Texans 

• Steelers 

Losers...

• Vikings 

• Ravens 

• Cowboys 

• Bills 

• Bengals 

The Falcons are going to be the up-and-coming team to watch in 2024, the Bears and Packers are going to battle atop the NFC North alongside the Lions, the Texans are legitimate Super Bowl contenders in the AFC, and I am not sure the Bengals have done enough to simply hope a healthy Burrow can get them back into contention. 

The Ravens are going to take a step back, even though they will be a contender, while the Vikings clearly need to move up in the draft and take a quarterback.

There is no point in keeping Justin Jefferson otherwise.