Patriots Thoughts & Reactions: Breaking down the Jonnu Smith trade

The New England traded tight end Jonnu Smith to the Atlanta Falcons for a seventh-round pick in this year’s NFL draft. It was a solid move on a number of levels.

Smith was a drastic underperformed for the Patriots since signing in the mega-2021 free agency splash by the New England Patriots. That year they spent a ton of owner Robert Kraft’s cash and the results were more lousy than good. Trading Smith corrects perhaps the biggest gaffe that offseason.

In two seasons, Smith was a huge disappointment. He caught only 55 passes for 539 yards and one touchdown. Not exactly what was expected for a $50M contract with $31.5M guaranteed. The signing was a complete disaster.

So let’s take a look at the fallout of the trade and why it was an excellent move by the New England Patriots personnel management team.

New England Patriots right a wrong

When a team makes a huge mistake, the right thing to do is acknowledge it, take the pain, and move on. That’s exactly what the Patriots did by trading Smith for the equivalent of a bag of footballs. It doesn’t matter, they did what needed to be done.

Smith’s signing was an irritant. He made a ton of money and delivered, well, almost zilch. Not only do the Patriots get a seventh-round pick but they also save $4.4M on the salary cap that can be put to good use (hopefully). This is good business.

That could be by signing another of the top free agents or two. That’s unlikely but why not?

In addition, the team must and now will take steps to bolster the position either in free agency and/or the draft. The option to release Hunter Henry also exists if they are looking for cap space, That’d save $10.M.

He’s been OK but that cash can be better used elsewhere. The suggestion here is to move on and rework the entire position from the ground up.

Getting back to the view from 10,000 feet, the move again is a really good signal. When you acknowledge your mistake and fix it, you’re on the right track.

New England Patriots’ tight end position now and more

So, how does the tight end position look now. Patriots.com sums it up,

"With Hunter Henry still under contract, along with depth options Matt Sokol and Scotty Washington, the tight end group isn’t barren without Smith. With an intriguing draft class at the position, they could still make an impact addition at the spot, as Henry enters the final year of his free agent contract that he signed shortly after Smith agreed to join New England."

The position may not be “barren”, but it sure as heck needs a lot of work. Hopefully, we’ll see that soon, in the draft.

In addition, this early nice move signals well perhaps for an offseason of productive signings and drafting. When the team takes care of business in one place, perhaps they’ll do the same elsewhere.

With a couple of big free-agent signings or a few lesser but still effective ones, the team can improve. One thing is certain, they lost little by moving Smith.

Now it’s up to the New England Patriots to keep up the positive momentum, make some good signings, and draft reasonably, as in a “consensus” fashion.

If they do, there’s no reason why this team can’t make the playoffs in 2023. Hopefully, they will continue with the positive moves.

No one outside of Foxborough really knows what’s on their minds. Yet, this is a good start and that is always nice to see.