The Baltimore Ravens made a somewhat surprising move on Thursday, trading rookie cornerback Shaun Wade to the New England Patriots in exchange for a 2022 seventh-round selection and a 2023 fifth-round selection. Wade gets a fresh start in New England, while Baltimore gets compensation for a player who seemingly wouldn’t have made their 53-man roster.
When looking at the deal, the Ravens did end up getting back a pick in the round that Wade was selected in. Throwing in a seventh-round selection of top of that doesn’t make it a bad deal at all for Baltimore. However, it is disappointing to see the team move so quickly off of a promising young player that they drafted, as Wade had only been with the team for a few months.
Trading Wade feels like it had more to do with the depth that the Ravens have in their secondary as opposed to what the rookie didn’t or couldn’t do. The former Ohio State University star was fighting for a roster spot with talented players such as Chris Westry, Nigel Warrior, Ar’Darius Washington and Geno Stone, which most likely meant that multiple defensive backs wouldn’t make the team that probably deserved to.
Baltimore made a tough decision to part with Wade. He has all of the tools to become a great football player at the NFL level, so it’s unfortunate that they traded away a guy that they invested in less than six months ago. However, netting some draft capital in return is a plus, and if the Ravens were going to let him go anyway, it was a decent overall haul.
Grade: B
