Mohamed Sanu trade: Breaking down deal for Patriots, Falcons

With Mohamed Sanu being traded from the Atlanta Falcons to the New England Patriots, let’s dive into analyzing the trade for both teams.

The New England Patriots took another step into improving their already-potent team this week in advance of the 2019 NFL Trade Deadline, adding Mohamed Sanu to the mix.

While looking for a bit of a boost at wide receiver following the shifting of a few different players within the wide receiving corps through the first half of the regular season schedule, the Patriots added a potentially high-impact player on the outside of the field this week in advance of a Week 8 matchup against the Cleveland Browns at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.

Early Tuesday morning, ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the news on social media that New England had traded for wide receiver Mohamed Sanu in a transaction that will send a second-round draft pick to the Atlanta Falcons.

Sanu, who is 30 years old and in his eighth season in the NFL, joins an already impressive Patriots offense and wide receiving corps that includes Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon, Phillip Dorsett and others.

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Through seven weeks with the Falcons so far this year, Sanu has tallied a total of 313 yards receiving and one touchdown on a total of 33 receptions and 42 overall targets. The wideout is averaging 9.5 yards per catch while tallying a season-long reception of 28 yards.

When analyzing this trade for both the Patriots and the Falcons, it appears to be a win-win situation for both sides.

From New England’s point-of-view, it is able to add a wide receiver that will provide immediate help on a team that has suddenly experienced some injuries among the wideout personnel through seven weeks of the 2019 campaign.

Entering Week 8, Edelman (ribs), Gordon (knee) and Dorsett (hamstring) have all found themselves on the Patriots injury report in the last few weeks, although Gordon is really the only player in that trio that has ultimately missed some time.

Sanu provides some veteran leadership and depth to New England to help out quarterback Tom Brady in the passing game and provides the future Hall-of-Famer with yet another target among the offensive group.

From Atlanta’s viewpoint, it was probably the right time to start trying to unload some assets it contains, especially after the start to the year that the Falcons have put together coming into the Week 8 slate of games.

The Falcons, who hold a record of 1-6 coming into a Week 8 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, have struggled to kick off the season and have quickly fallen out of postseason contention at the midway point of the year.

Already holding receiving threats such as Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, Austin Hooper and others, it was a smart move for Atlanta to look around at possible trade suitors for Sanu. And the fact that they got a second-round draft pick in return for him is definitely a positive as the Falcons look ahead to the future.

For both sides, this trade seems to be a win-win moving forward. New England gets another wide receiver to add to its potent offensive unit, while Atlanta was able to add a valuable asset to try and continue to turn things around in the next few years.