New England Patriots Build Unstoppable Force on Offense via Trade
By Dan Salem
While everyone else spent money, the New England Patriots made trades, assembling another unstoppable force on offense. Does this team even have a ceiling?
We’re tackling each team in the league, traveling alphabetically to debate their biggest offseason issues. Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate in today’s NFL Sports Debate. Two brothers from New York yell, scream, and debate sports.
TODD:
Per usual under Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots were relatively quiet in free agency. This franchise doesn’t go out and spend huge sums of cash on other people’s stars. It simply builds its own.
However, the Patriots did make one big splash, this via trade. They dealt away Pro-Bowl pass rusher Chandler Jones to the Cardinals for Jonathan Cooper and a 2016 second-round pick. Jones had some off-field issues in New England last season, but likely more relevant, he was due to hit free agency himself next season, and NE always bails too early rather than too late.
The Pats also filled some of the Jones void by signing Chris Long to a cheap contract later that same day. The acquisition of Cooper was vital for a weakened offensive line, while the addition of that second-round draft pick helps to alleviate the forfeiture of the team’s first-round pick that it shouldn’t have had to give up in the first place.
Related Story: Patriots Seven Round 2016 Mock Draft 2.0
Of course, New England wasn’t done dealing. It also made a trade with Chicago for tight end Martellus Bennett, pairing him with Rob Gronkowski to make sure no opponent can possibly cover anyone over the middle. Bennett has been a good and even underrated player for years now. He is easily one of the top half dozen tight ends in football. Now NE has two of those.
Donald Brown probably isn’t the answer at running back, but Dion Lewis will be back and LeGarrette Blount may still be re-signed. Nate Washington was brought in as a replacement for Brandon LaFell. Despite passing on every big name in free agency, it still seems like New England is set up perfectly for 2016. It still has Tom Brady, the defense is legit, and this once again looks like the best team in the AFC. It’s kind of obnoxious if we’re being honest.
Really the only “mistake” the team made this offseason was giving Chris Hogan $12 million, though, in all likelihood, Hogan is going to become the next Pro Bowl white wide receiver on this team, carrying on the legacy.
DAN:
The Patriots’ ability to get better while seemingly doing very little is definitely obnoxious. Its interesting to me that while the majority of teams focused on signing free agents, New England made nearly all its moves via trade. They dealt quality for quality, rather than throwing money at the wall and hoping it hits some talent. We’d have to do a thorough look historically at the Patriots’ moves under Belichick to see if this is indeed a viable trend, but when the best team is trading and everyone else is spending, I think we all know who’s playing smarter.
More from NFL Spin Zone
- Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
- Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
- Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
- Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
- Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens
New England has always been able to compensate for a lack of dominance at the running back position. They play the hot hand, allowing the offensive line and passing attack to open holes for their backs. This works exceptionally well when your best receiving targets are a dynamic duo of unstoppable strength. The Patriots had this once before with Gronk and Hernandez. They attempted to re-create it last year with Gronk and Scott Chandler, yet it was obvious who the real weapon was. Now Bennett joins the fray as a legitimate 1a to Gronk’s A++ abilities.
Watching Gronk last season would have been a thing of beauty, if I was not a fan of their primary division rival. It feels like cheating as Brady casually tosses him the football over the middle and he destroys the tiny defensive backs, catches the football with ease and plows forward for another fifteen yards. This all happened without the threat of another dominating tight end across the field. Sure, the Patriots’ receivers were good and will likely continue to be good. But Bennett brings a lot to New England’s offense. Its hard to call anything this team does as under the radar, but I don’t think enough is being made of this move.
Bennett is a nine year veteran who spent his entire career in the NFC. He played for Dallas, the Giants and for the Chicago Bears, where he was most prolific. He missed some time last season, likely leading to the hesitancy to lump praise upon this addition. But considering that New England already has a tight end averaging over 1100 yards and double digit touchdowns the last two seasons, mixing in Bennett is like having the entire birthday cake just because. He averaged 700 yards and 5 touchdowns while with the Bears, a team that nose dived overall during that time.
More nfl spin zone: 2016 NFL Predictions - Patriots Re-take the AFC
Getting another 2nd round draft pick was huge for New England, but trading for Bennett is bigger. I’m sure he’d love to finish his career playing with the best quarterback of all time, with a high likelihood of a Super Bowl appearance. Bennett has everything to play for and makes the Patriots’ offense even scarier. Its like cheating, except its not. Until Bill Belichick retires, his team remains the AFC favorite.