Blind-side decision
Fifth-year option looms for tackle Wynn
Four days after the NFL Draft opens on April 29, the Patriots will face another big decision concerning a firstround pick.
Per league rules, NFL teams have until May 3 to pick up the fifth-year options built into the contracts of 2018 first-rounders. While left tackle Isaiah Wynn and running back Sony Michel are both eligible for a guaranteed fifth year, Wynn is more likely to see his deal extended into 2022. The question is how likely.
The price of triggering Wynn’s option is $10.413 million, which would pay him as a top-20 offensive tackle and one of the 40 highestpaid linemen in the NFL today. Wynn is a top-20 caliber tackle when healthy. Key word: when.
To review, Wynn missed his rookie year with a torn Achilles, then sat eight games with turf toe in 2019 and fell victim to a nasty knee injury last season, when he missed the final six games. Two of those injuries — the Achilles tear and knee twist — resulted from players rolling up on Wynn from behind while he was blocking.
The Patriots must determine how likely those incidents are to repeat and what, if anything, they can do to protect him.
For what it’s worth, Wynn’s injury-prone label is fairly new.
He started every game but one over his final three seasons in college. At Georgia, Wynn was honored for his toughness with a program award. He’s since played through injury in New England, grown stronger and more disciplined, getting whistled for just two penalties in his last 14 games.
“Isaiah is a good player, does a lot of things well,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said last September. “He’s a very athletic player with very good playing strength and leverage. He’s got good feet, and he’s a smart kid, and he really takes well to coaching and making adjustments and those kind of things.”
Last year, Wynn ranked among the NFL’s 20 best O-linemen among those who saw at least 250 offensive snaps, per Pro Football Focus grades. Among offensive tackles, Wynn ranked 10th-best. Pound for pound, he is arguably the Pats’ most talented O-linemen.
Wynn won’t turn 26 until mid-December, another reason for optimism. Though, as the saying goes, the best ability is availability, a clear sore spot for the young lineman.
When Wynn missed his rookie campaign, Trent Brown replaced him at left tackle. Brown now projects to start at right tackle, having returned to New England
in a March trade with the Raiders. But in 2022, both bookends could be gone.
Brown agreed to a restructured 1-year deal last month and will again be playing with hopes of securing a massive payday next offseason. Re-signing the one-time Pro Bowler after a successful year could cost the Pats double the $7.625 million cap hit Brown currently carries, another argument for keeping Wynn around for 2022. The Pats could also pick up Wynn’s option simply to boost his trade value and deal him at a later date.
If the Pats prefer to draft a replacement for Wynn and/ or Brown, USC’s Alijah VeraTucker is the only top prospect who projects to be available at 15th overall, the team’s first pick. Vera-Tucker was a career guard before playing left tackle over his final season, the same path Wynn took. It’s conceivable the team could trade back,
putting the front office in position to nab Virginia Tech’s Christian Darrisaw, Notre Dame’s Liam Eichenberg or Oklahoma State’s Teven Jenkins later in the first round.
Most draft experts view those prospects as right tackles, which in New England would make them insurance against Brown
leaving next offseason. The Patriots’ first-round pick will say a lot about how they view the future of their offensive line.
Because unlike the fireworks they set off in free agency, the days that bridge April into May are about 2022 and beyond for the Patriots; whether that’s with Wynn or without him.