In a shocking move, the New England Patriots reportedly opened up their offseason with a great move trading for former Patriot, offensive tackle, Trent Brown.
I don’t like this move, I absolutely love it!
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Having painted a prospectively bleak picture for the offseason to-date, this move has to be greeted with huge enthusiasm as it makes great sense for New England for a number of reasons.
Brown was traded by the Las Vegas Raiders to the Patriots for a 2022 fifth-round pick with a 2022 seventh-rounder heading back to New England. Since New England’s track record on lower round picks is quite good, it’s good to see a seventh-rounder returning.
This trade with Vegas was in no way a roll of the dice for New England assuming Brown is healthy. It’s a huge jackpot win at the slots, for a New England personnel operation in dire need of some positives.
The most important position on any NFL team is the quarterback. No revelation there. Yet, the most important unit on an NFL squad is the offensive line.
New England was hit with injuries last season on the offensive line and even the great Cam Newton couldn’t rescue them from that and the lack of capable skill players. So it’s incumbent on the Patriots’ personnel operation to shore up those two positions before any others.
The Patriots have no quarterback at present. That need is No. 1 and that will hopefully be addressed either by trade for a star or in the draft by selecting a top, young arm.
But the move for Brown is significant because they have taken an initial step to fortify the most important unit on the team before free agency and the draft have even arrived. Give credit where credit is due, that’s one darn solid move for the New England Patriots. Bravo!
Let’s explore 3 major reasons why this is such a great move.
First, the New England Patriots righted a wrong by bringing back Trent Brown, who should never have been let go in the first place.
Brown played only one year in New England with the Patriots in 2018 but it was a significant one. It was their last Super Bowl season and a win at that against the Los Angeles Rams.
Brown was an important, yet very underrated part of that winning team. He kept Tom Brady’s blindside clean as he is a mountain to try to get around at 6’8″ and 380 pounds. Indeed, Brown can also run block as he helped clear the way for the game-cementing Super Bowl touchdown by Rex Burkhead that sealed the deal against the Rams.
Having been totally against and critical of the move to allow Brown to leave in free agency, this move by New England for this massive (a nice asset) left tackle (though he was positioned on the right by Las Vegas) makes perfect sense.
Brown is still only 27 years old. The only problem I see with this deal is the contract that allows him to become a free agent after the season. New England should have learned their lesson and made the deal a minimum of one year with at least a team option for another or preferably signed him to a multi-year deal.
It’s a mistake that could backfire if he is healthy in 2021, but pay off if he’s physically unable to perform. It says here he should have been signed longer term. We’ll see.
Second, Brown solidifies a New England Patriots offensive line in need of additions
Assuming Brown is slotted in at offensive left tackle (as he should be), that allows New England a great opportunity to cash in on this.
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First, it allows them to let the terrific but too costly Joe Thuney go and leave his offensive left guard spot. Thuney will be gone but it will save an additional $14 million in cap space. $11 million of that will go to Brown but it’s still a net cap savings of $3 million and they’ll solidify a left tackle spot that has been in flux with the annual issues of the oft-injured, Isaiah Wynn.
Wynn is very talented but injuries have curtailed his 3-year career to-date. If Brown can step in at left tackle, Wynn can move inside to a guard spot, to right tackle, or maybe even transition to center. He’s more the size of a center and if New England doesn’t re-sign David Andrews, he may be able to step in there.
Another option is to let Marcus Cannon with his cap hit of about $7 million go and insert Wynn into the right tackle position. It bolsters the Patriots offensive line by allowing the versatile and talented Wynn to maybe assume a position less demanding than the key left tackle spot and thereby stay on the field.
If not, Brown can also certainly play right tackle but this is the lesser of the two options and he should start on the left.
Third, the New England Patriots can move outstanding rookie Michael Onwenu inside to replace Joe Thuney
The New England Patriots best draft pick, bar none, in 2020 was the outstanding surprise talent, Michael Onwenu.
Onwenu started all 16 games, most at right tackle, and excelled. He was not only New England’s best rookie but one of the best in the NFL, and he was a sixth-round pick to boot.
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A previously article half-facetiously suggested that New England trade all their high draft picks for proven players, but make sure they receive sixth and seventh-rounders in the deals since they seem to be much more proficient at drafting in those lower rounds.
Again, it was only half-joking. Onwenu is a case in point. He also is a massive man listed at 6’3″ and 350 pounds. Onwenu has been a guard mostly in college but stepped in for Cannon who opted out of last season and was terrific.
Yet, with Thuney seemingly on the way out (and possibly bringing another third-round compensatory pick in the 2022 draft in the process), Onwenu could step right into the left guard position.
Imagine the left side of the offensive line the Patriots could field with an average weight somewhere in the vicinity of about 370 pounds or so. That’s a terrific wall to allow a top-flight quarterback they might trade for (less likely), or the top rookie quarterback they might roll the dice on and draft (somewhat more likely), or, the worst option, the older veteran quarterback they trade for or sign (probably most likely, but hope not) to have time to throw.
In addition, as noted, Wynn has the versatility to play almost anywhere on the offensive line and can move into the Cannon/Onwenu right tackle position with ease. Should the Patriots re-sign Andrews (strongly recommended), the offensive line could look like this in 2021: OLT, Trent Brown; OLG, Michael Onwenu; C, David Andrews; ORG, Shaq Mason; and ORT, Isaiah Wynn.
That line would stack up against any in the NFL and maybe be the best, assuming all are healthy and on the field. Truly outstanding, even without Thuney. That about says it all as to why the addition of Brown is so important and valuable to the New England Patriots. It’s a nice move, indeed.