Draft options open up
Cooks trade creates possibilities
The Patriots got good value in trading wide receiver Brandin Cooks, netting a first-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft from the Los Angeles Rams. But they got something else just as important: the ability to be legitimate players during the first round of this year’s NFL draft. In receiving the No. 23 pick overall from the Rams as part of the deal, along with a sixth-rounder (No.198) in exchange for the receiver and a fourth-round selection (No. 136), they now have a better chance to select a decent left tackle to replace Nate Solder.
Or maybe they land Tom Brady’s eventual successor.
Or it’s also possible they stack the defense with a pair of playmaking studs (like Chandler Jones, Dont’a Hightower in 2012). All three scenarios are now in the equation thanks to this trade.
At pick No.31, where the Pats already own a firstround selection, let’s just say it was tough imagining them getting that franchise tackle.
At 23rd overall, however, they have the draft capital for a shot at getting one of the better prospects at the position. Or, if not the tackle, perhaps they go after a quarterback they feel is the
guy to eventually replace Brady. The guy who is supposed to make you forget Jimmy Garoppolo.
With this trade, they now have so many more options.
The Pats can package No.23 and No.31, and, according to most trade-value charts, move up even into the top-10 picks. So, this trade gets coach Bill Belichick into the ballgame on Day 1, which is a great place to be for The Hoodie. And it all makes sense.
Cooks was entering the final year of his contract. The cost for keeping top wideouts has really escalated. Just to get an idea, Sammy Watkins signed a threeyear deal with the Chiefs worth $48 million, with $30 million guaranteed. Allen Robinson signed a threeyear deal for $42 million, including $25 million guaranteed, with the Bears.
Cooks did have 65 catches for 1,082 yards, but it still didn’t seem like he and Brady were comfortable together. Their chemistry appeared to get better toward the season’s end, and probably would have improved with more time.
But it’s hard to think he would have been re-signed at the going rate for 1,000yard receivers.
Now Brady will be without Danny Amendola and Cooks. Julian Edelman will be back, albeit coming off ACL surgery. Malcolm Mitchell also seems to be on the path back. Also in house are Chris Hogan, Phillip Dorsett, Kenny Britt, Riley McCarron and Cody Hollister.
Do they really need the deep threat? Given the loss of Solder, and the trade of Garoppolo, and the lack of playmakers on defense, they needed the additional first-round pick more than Cooks’ speed. That’s why this trade is a good one.
It gives Belichick and director of player personnel Nick Caserio options to fill their remaining needs.
It also makes the draft so much more interesting given how they might maneuver the board. They can also play with two second-round picks (No.43 and No.63) in their possession.
The past two years, the Pats didn’t make a first-round pick. Now they have two.
It’s so much more fun especially this way with all the possibilities Belichick has in front of him.
The franchise left tackle to replace Solder? The quarterback in-waiting to succeed Brady? Help to bolster a defense that cracked in Super Bowl LII?
Can’t wait to see what Belichick has up his sleeve.