The New England Patriots have been unsurprisingly quiet to start free agency this offseason. After their spending spree in 2021, the team wasn’t exactly flush with cap space heading into free agency this time around, so it isn’t a huge surprise.
The Pats have generally focused on re-signing their core veterans on cheap, team-friendly deals so far. The group of players that have re-signed so far are Devin McCourty, Brian Hoyer, James Ferentz, Matthew Slater, Nick Folk, and James White. While no outside players have been brought in through free agency yet, that seems bound to change after a pair of trades were swung yesterday.
Heading into the offseason, it was clear that New England had some deadweight on the bottom of their roster that needed to be shed, and Bill Belichick made his first move to unload some of that weight by trading edge rusher Chase Winovich to the Cleveland Browns in return for linebacker Mack Wilson. Belichick also freed up cap space in a controversial move, sending offensive lineman Shaq Mason to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in return for a fifth round pick.
While neither deal may be overly popular with the Patriots fan base, it’s clear Belichick has a plan of attack moving forward. New England has already created a couple more holes across their roster, so it will be interesting to see how they are addressed moving forward. Let’s take a closer look at the Winovich and Mason trades, and hand out a grade for each deal.
New England Patriots Trade No. 1
The Patriots and Browns engaged in a rare player-for-player deal that saw each team unload a player that had fallen out of favor with their current coaching staff. Winovich, after picking up 5.5 sacks in both of his first two seasons, only managed a measly 11 tackles and 0 sacks in 2021. Wilson had a solid rookie season, but he saw his starting role eventually taken away from him by Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah last season.
A fresh start should benefit both players mightily. Winovich’s status with the team never seemed secure in 2021, and once he stopped producing as a pass rusher, he served no purpose being on the field. Winovich has upside as a pass rusher, but his complete inability to play against the run severely limits his potential, and if you can’t defend both, you probably aren’t going to see the field under Belichick’s watch.
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Wilson on the other hand will come in and probably fill a big area of need at linebacker for New England. He’s not as big as the Patriots typically like their linebackers (6’1, 233 lbs) but he’s a very intuitive linebacker who always seems to find a way to do things right. He’s a good tackler, solid in both run and pass coverage, and most importantly, he’s fast.
Wilson falling out of favor with the Browns coaching staff is a bit worrisome, but we have seen players in similar situations find a way to breakout under Belichick’s tutelage, and it wouldn’t be extremely surprisng to see something similar happen here with Wilson. He’s got Alabama roots, has proven he can successful in the NFL, and has the ability to do pretty much everything asked of him at linebacker.
FINAL GRADE: B
This isn’t a massive deal by any stretch of the imagination, but New England potentially picked up a starting linebacker for an edge rusher who didn’t even suit up for the team’s Wild Card game against the Buffalo Bills. Winovich clearly wasn’t a part of the team’s plans moving forward, so being able to pick up a high-upside player such as Wilson is a win-win deal for the team. If Wilson pans out, it will go down as another stroke of genius from Belichick.
New England Patriots Trade No. 2:
On the other hand, the Patriots trading their starting right guard, Shaq Mason, away for a fifth round pick isn’t as straight forward. Mason is one of the best guards in the NFL, and had two years remaining on a relatively team friendly deal. Yet Belichick could only muster a fifth round pick in return for the talened offensive lineman.
It’s clear that this move was made for salary cap purposes. It’s no secret the Patriots are short on cap space, and trading Mason away saves the Patriots $6.3 million on the cap. I’m not saying that’s a completely logical reason to trade away arguably your top offensive lineman for just a fifth round pick, but unless there’s something we aren’t privy to, that’s the thinking of the front office right now.
The lack of value in return for Mason implies that the Patriots were probably intending on getting rid of Mason’s contract one way or another, which isn’t a total surprise. I wrote earlier about how Mason could end up being a cap casualty this offseason, and while he wasn’t released, the terms of this trade pretty much make Mason a cap casualty.
While clearing cap space is important, this is a highly questionnable move. Trading Mason away ensures the Pats will lose two of their top linemen this offseason (they also lost Ted Karras, who signed with the Cincinnati Bengals), and that’s not even accounting for Trent Brown, who is still a free agent. There doesn’t really appear to be a clear cut replacement on the roster, meaning even if Brown returns, the Pats are going to be looking for another o-lineman this this offseason.
FINAL GRADE: C-
Clearing up cap space helps, but you cannot ignore the minimal return the Pats got for Mason here. A fifth round pick is just not an equal return for one of the premier guards in the league, who is on a team-friendly contract for two more seasons. With no clear succession plan, New England now is going to have to find a way to replace Mason, and I guarantee you his replacement won’t be coming through the fifth round pick the team picked up in return for him.