The New England Patriots just finished completely dominating the New York Jets, and hours later early Tuesday morning, they completed a trade to help their offense.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Pats dealt a 2020 second-rounder to the Atlanta Falcons for veteran receiver Mohamed Sanu.
Your initial reaction might have been “A second-round pick? For Mohamed Sanu? Really?” Yes, Sanu hasn’t had a great year — 33 catches for 313 yards and one touchdown — but as you’ll see, it’s a trade that makes a ton of sense for the Patriots and perhaps only the Patriots.
Here are draft grades for both sides of the deal:
Falcons
Grade: A-minus
Let’s get this out of the way before we dive into the Pats’ side. The 1-6 Falcons are terrible and need to rebuild in a lot of places, so dealing a wideout who wasn’t doing much behind Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley for a top-64 pick is a heist.
Patriots
Grade: B-plus
If this was any of the 31 other teams making this kind of trade for a second-rounder, it would be an instant D or F.
But here are a few reasons why this trade actually works for them:
1. Sanu is an upgrade for the WR corps
Josh Gordon isn’t back yet, which means the receivers included Julain Edelman, Phillip Dorsett (who just got back on the field this week after missing a few games), rookie Jakobi Meyers and I’ll throw in James White out of the backfield. That’s it! And while Sony Michel scored three times on Monday, he’s still averaging just 3.3 ypc.
That means the offense needs help, and Sanu is exactly the kind of route-runner Bill Belichick covets.
2. Sanu is a perfect fit
See the sentence I wrote above. Also: if I could put money down on the Patriots using Sanu — a former quarterback in high school before converting to WR at Rutgers, a school that has provided Belichick a ton of its football alumni — running a trick play in which he throws in the playoffs, I would.
Plays like that are definitely going into the playbook.
3. The Patriots are going for it now
This is where we ponder how much longer Tom Brady plays. If he leaves at some point either next year or in the not-so-distant future, does Belichick leave with him?
So spending a second-rounder on a lesser-used wideout is shoving somewhat all-in on 2019 — win another ring before riding off into the sunset.
4. The Patriots are playing chess while everyone plays checkers
A belabored point, but one we have to cite. Only the Pats can trade a valuable draft pick and the expectation is they’ll figure out a way to cover for it with other picks or at least trade for a second-rounder to replace it after the season is over. It’s the Patriots! They’ll be fine! They look at your criticisms about trading a second-round pick for Mohamed Sanu and make this face:
