The Patriots are making a big splash in advance of free agency, bringing back a familiar face to do it.
New England is expected to trade for Raiders offensive tackle Trent Brown, sources say, with the two sides coming together on a deal that was a few weeks in the making.
Brown has reworked his deal, agreeing to a new one-year contract as part of the agreement, per sources, allowing him to be a free agent after the 2021 season. Previously, he had two years and 19.25 million left on his Las Vegas contract.
The compensation going to Las Vegas is not yet clear.
Brown, 27, returns to coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots to reignite his career that reached its greatest heights in 2018 — his only season in New England.
After he was traded from the 49ers, he started every game for the Patriots, won a Super Bowl, and was good enough to earn a four-year, $66 million contract from the Raiders.
After a Pro Bowl season in 2019 as a right tackle, Brown had a more trying 2020. He played in just five games, spent some time on the reserve/COVID-19 list and most notably was hospitalized after a mishap with a pre-game IV that caused air to enter his bloodstream.
In his end-of-season news conference, Raiders general manager Mike Mayock said of Brown, “When he’s healthy, he’s dominant. And you’ve got to juxtapose that with his inability to play, week to week, over a two-year period. We’ve got to get a more consistent player. We think he’s the best right tackle in the league when healthy.”
That’s what the Patriots believe they are getting.
Tom Brady was not the only player whose departure from New England precipitated the Patriots’ first losing season in two decades. The Patriots also had more players opt out of the 2020 season than any other team in the league.
The good news is, that means the Patriots are getting some key players back.
Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower, safety Patrick Chung, and offensive tackle Marcus Cannon all plan to return to the Patriots for the 2021 season, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. All are healthy and ready to get back to work.
In addition to getting back their opt-outs, the Patriots are also near the top of the league in available salary cap space. So they should be able to add some more key players in free agency.
There are plenty of reasons to think the Patriots could be better in 2021 than they were in 2020. As long as they can find a quarterback.
The Carson Wentz era in Philadelphia came to an end today, as the former second-overall pick was dealt to the Colts. However, just because Wentz was sent packing, that doesn’t necessarily mean Jalen Hurts will slide into the starting spot. Sources tell ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen that the Eagles intend to bring in “competition” at quarterback, and the “starting job is not expected to automatically go to Hurts.”
The Eagles made a significant commitment to Hurts when they selected him in the second round of last year’s draft, and the former Alabama/Oklahoma standout showed flashes of potential during the 2020 season. Hurts ultimately started four of his 15 appearances this past season, completing 52 percent of his passes for 1,061 yards, six touchdowns, and four interceptions. He added another 354 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 63 carries.
It’s pretty clear that Hurts is the heir apparent at the quarterback spot, so this report is probably mostly lip service … teams don’t want their young players to rest on their laurels. Rather, the team is likely looking toward a veteran free agent who will provide some extra motivation to the young signal caller.
Let’s check out some more Wentz-centric notes:
The Colts ended up sending Philly a 2021 third-round pick and a conditional 2022 second-round pick. According to Zak Keefer of The Athletic, Indy’s offer “hadn’t changed all that much across 10 days of negotiations.” The Colts front office ultimately believed the compensation was “fair,” and they never intended to “meet the Eagles’ initial demands of multiple first-round picks.” Per Keefer, the Colts understood that Wentz wasn’t their only option to replace Philip Rivers, and the front office was weighing other options while negotiating with Philadelphia.
We learned earlier today that the Bears had inquired on Wentz but never made a definitive offer. The same goes for the Patriots. According to Jeff Howe of the The Athletic, New England called the Eagles about the quarterback but lost interest when they heard the asking price. As the reporter notes, the Patriots are unlikely to “overpay for a veteran if it’s not a perfect fit,” especially at this point in the offseason.
How did it get to this point between Wentz and the Eagles? ESPN’s Tim McManus writes that the drafting of Hurts may have marked the “beginning of the end,” but there were plenty of additional factors that came into play during the 2020 season. As the Eagles losses and injuries continued to mount, (former) head coach DougPederson stripped Wentz of “much of his control over the offense.” As a result, Wentz vicariously lost faith in his head coach and the system.
Wentz didn’t just lose faith in Pederson. Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes that Wentz “lost faith in [general manager HowieRoseman‘s] decision making. Wentz held a similar sentiment toward owner JeffreyLurie, who supported his GM and the front office’s decision to select Hurts in the second round.
VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — A Republican from Washington state who was one of 10 GOP House members who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump late Friday urged people with knowledge of conversations Trump had during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to come forward.
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler said in a statement House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told her he spoke with Trump as rioters were storming the Capitol. She said McCarthy asked Trump to publicly “call off the riot” and told Trump the violent mob were Trump supporters, not far-left antifa members.
In her statement, released via Twitter, Herrera Beutler said: “That’s when, according to McCarthy, the president said: ‘Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.’”
The congresswoman’s disclosure comes as the U.S. Senate is conducting Trump’s impeachment trial, which is to resume Saturday. On Friday Trump’s defense team denied he had incited the deadly riot and said his encouragement of followers to “fight like hell” at a rally that preceded it was routine political speech.
U.S. House members who are acting as prosecutors in the impeachment say Trump was the “inciter in chief” who spread election falsehoods, then encouraged supporters to come challenge the results.
Herrera Buetler, who represents Washington’s 3rd Congressional District in the southwestern part of the state, said she has relayed parts of her conversation with McCarthy before to constituents and local media.
She then called on people with knowledge of Trump’s conversation with McCarthy to speak out.
“And to the patriots who were standing next to the former president as these conversations were happening, or even to the former vice president: if you have something to add here, now would be the time,” she said.
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This story has been updated to correct that Herrera Beutler represents Washington’s 3rd Congressional District.
When this whole Deshaun Watson sweepstakes idea started in early January, the beginnings were modest.
In the seemingly unlikely event that Watson would push his way out of Houston, logic was dictated by which teams had the right draft ammunition and salary-cap space. The Miami Dolphins were a natural fit. So too were the New York Jets, who had lost out on their dream of landing Trevor Lawrence. And if you were willing to get outside the box, you could envision a team like the San Francisco 49ers, who appear hellbent on upgrading the quarterback spot and can suddenly create a nice cap surplus by offloading Jimmy Garoppolo. These were sensible destinations. As the weeks have rolled on, we’ve begun to float toward fantasy trade island.
Now as January comes to a close, we’re officially beached there under a coconut tree — with half the NFL being touted as a Hey, Maybe landing spot. The formula has been simple: If there’s even mild discontent at the quarterback spot, that franchise is now entered into the Deshaun Watson qualifier race. Hell, even the Arizona Cardinals (“Kyler Murray is from Texas!”) and Green Bay Packers (“Aaron Rodgers isn’t happy!”) are being entered into the increasingly crowded field of Wild West speculation.
And why not? If you’re an NFL team without a top-10 quarterback or a budding star of your own, you should probably be interested in Watson. Whether you have the ability to make it happen is another story. The vast majority of teams being speculated don’t. And to emerge from the field of have-nots, you really need to blow an offer into the stratosphere.
There is one team in the highly unlikely crowd of contenders that should consider blowing up the obvious destinations with an overwhelming offer. Regardless if the move is out of character for this particular team or would prove costlier than the head coach is usually comfortable with, it’s worth one franchise really pressing forward and trying to upend this whole thing.
The New England Patriots. It’s a team that has far longer odds than what Las Vegas would probably put on any Watson pursuit.
It’s not hard to stack up why it could never work. The team’s 15th overall pick in the 2021 draft isn’t remotely close to what several other contenders can offer. And from an overachievement standpoint, the Patriots are the kind of team that will likely always be selecting players in the lower half of drafts, sheerly driven by the coaching and culture Bill Belichick has instilled. That doesn’t bode well when a team is weighing New England’s picks in an offer. And the draft compensation also doesn’t take into account that Belichick may not love the idea of paying any quarterback a steep deal — even Watson’s five-year, post-trade average of $29.3 million per year, which is very economical for his considerable skills.
If it all ended there, the Patriots would already be in bad shape in the Watson trade talks. But it doesn’t. There’s behind-the-scenes beef between Patriots ownership and All-Pro NFL Svengali Jack Easterby, who has become an infamous executive inside the Texans and seems to be lurking under the fingernails of virtually everything that team owner Cal McNair reaches for. Even with former Patriots personnel man Nick Caserio potentially being amenable to working out a deal with the Patriots, it’s highly unlikely Easterby wouldn’t work to kill the possibility. We also can’t ignore that Watson didn’t seem to enjoy his time under former coach Bill O’Brien, leaving the possibility that he’d never want to go play for O’Brien’s close friend Belichick, even with Belichick having immense respect for Watson’s talent.
It was a rough go for Bill Belichick in the post Tom Brady era in New England. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, FIle)
Taken altogether, that’s not just a formidable bucket of cold water thrown on a Patriots pursuit of Watson — it’s a tsunami of icebergs washing away fantasy trade island. That doesn’t mean Belichick shouldn’t make the call.
Dealing for Garoppolo will undoubtedly be cheaper. Drafting Mac Jones will be less of a cap hit. And maybe fishing around for some other unforeseen option will produce a surprise. But Belichick turns 69 in April. The compound in Nantucket and relaxing afternoons on his fishing boat can’t be confined to the summer break forever. And if we didn’t learn it in 2020, we’ll never learn it: You can’t compete or even rebuild anymore with middling quarterbacks. Another hopeful veteran reclamation is asking for another Cam Newton disappointment, punctuated this season when the elite QBs dominated the conference title games.
And lest we forget, Tom Brady’s week is coming up. If there was ever a week to feel motivated to resolve the quarterback spot in New England, this is it. Oh, and probably next season, too, given that it appears Brady and his new Tampa Bay Buccaneers family is committed to 2021 as well.
While it wouldn’t be Belichick’s style to be driven to make a personnel move based on the post-Patriots success of Brady, it absolutely would be his style to recognize Watson for what he is. And that’s a brand of special that makes him a top-five quarterback. Belichick himself has said it in the past, making comments similar to those that endeared him to Newton when Newton was at his best.
“Deshaun’s a very talented player — certainly one of the top players in the league at his position that we’ve faced,” Belchick said on a conference call with Houston before facing Watson and the Texans in 2019. “[He] does a great job on the deep ball, has very good touch and accuracy, is a good decision maker — obviously very athletic kid that can do a lot. … He’s a very good passer. [He] can extend plays and make throws out of pocket, make throws in the pocket. And if he has to run the ball to convert a third down, he is certainly capable of doing that.”
Belichick’s praise of Watson doesn’t mean everything, of course. He compliments good players all the time who he’d never try to acquire in a frenzied trade market. And Watson doesn’t fit the bargain shopping that Belichick likes to engage in. But every once in a while, if a player is special, Belichick will go outside his habitual structure and reach for a difference-making talent. He did it for Stephon Gilmore, when the price tag in free agency was as high as it could be. He did it for Antonio Brown, when the chemistry risk was through the roof. And he did it for Darrelle Revis when it was a rental situation that made sense inside the championship window. All of which shows that there are acquisitions for all seasons, even with someone who tends to play it close to the vest more than most.
Belichick’s history of incoming trades is one of yielding fairly good results for very reasonable draft compensation. Guys like Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Aqib Talib were basically bargains in terms of the draft picks surrendered. If anything, Belichick has shown a far more significant propensity to send players away for high picks than to bring them in. But with someone like Watson on the board, this could be an exception.
We’d be remiss to forget the Patriots have spent some serious draft picks for someone special. It just wasn’t a player. It was Belichick himself — for a league-stimulated first-, fourth- and seventh-round picks, which is probably one of the greatest deals in NFL history, let alone the Patriots franchise. Twenty-one years later this month, there’s an opportunity on the table to at least make the call for what would immediately slot as the second greatest deal in Patriots history. Maybe it would take a blowout deal, including a multitude of first-round picks and maybe a few probing young players. Maybe it would take a call to Watson himself, in hopes that he would waive his no-trade clause to go play for another coach who has some hallmarks of O’Brien when it comes to making football more of a job than a fun career endeavor.
It might be a low percentage shot that requires more than New England is willing or capable of surrendering. But if 2020 taught the franchise anything, it’s that special comes around only once in a long, long time at quarterback. Letting it go can be as costly as watching it flourish in the Super Bowl only one year later. And there’s no better way to respond to that new piece of information than by taking a shot that might set the franchise’s future in place long enough to move it past Tom Brady, rather than fumbling for years beneath the shadow he’ll cast for years to come.
Tom Brady is back in the Super Bowl — but this time he’s leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Prior to joining Tampa Bay, Brady was the ringleader for the New England Patriots over a 20-year stretch. He led the Patriots to nine Super Bowl appearances, which included six Super Bowl titles, and he has a host of individual accolades cementing him as one of the greatest players the sport has ever seen.
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On Sunday, Brady completed 20 of 36 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns to help lead the Bucs to a 31-26 victory over Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship, which clinched Tampa Bay its first Super Bowl appearance since 2002.
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Even though Brady is no longer a part of the Patriots organization, many of his former teammates shared their reactions to Brady reaching a 10th Super Bowl in his career. It goes to show how well-respected the future Hall of Fame quarterback was during his time with New England.
