Indianapolis acquired the rights to receiver Walter Murray…

Washington's first Walter Murray transaction had gone badly because the club spent major draft capital to select him and then could not sign him. This second deal was an attempt to salvage value from those rights. On October 7, 1986, Indianapolis acquired Murray and sent Washington its 1987 second-round choice. Colts historical records identify that selection as No. 30, which Washington used on defensive back Brian Davis.

Indianapolis at least turned the transaction into immediate football use. Murray played for the Colts and produced a modest receiving role, including a more active 1987 season. He was not a star and did not become a long-term fixture, but the Colts acquired a player who actually contributed rather than holding a dormant asset.

Washington's recovery was also reasonable. A second-round pick is meaningful compensation for a player who had never suited up for the team. The problem is that Davis did not become the kind of starter who would have transformed the exchange into a decisive Washington win. Contemporary retrospectives have grouped the Murray and Davis outcomes among Washington's disappointing personnel moves of the period.

That leaves a low-separation result. Indianapolis got limited player production; Washington got a premium pick but did not convert it into lasting impact. C+ grades capture that both teams recovered something useful without producing a major success. The trade should be viewed separately from Washington's earlier decision to spend a future first-rounder to draft Murray, which was a much more damaging move.

A Washington win would require the second-round choice to become substantially more valuable than Murray's Colts tenure, and that did not happen. An Indianapolis win would require more sustained receiving production. The available outcomes support neither claim strongly enough.