Going into the 2020 offseason, it was nearly a forgone conclusion that Joe Thuney’s market would be too much for the New England Patriots to match.
However, just two days before the start of free agency, New England elected to place the franchise tag on the left tackle. The tag came with a $14.781 million payday for the 28-year-old coming off his rookie deal.
Interestingly enough, the use of the tag didn’t calm the talks of Thuney going elsewhere. Along with the normal discussions of long-term negotiations, it also brought talks of trade destinations.
And, with the Philadelphia Eagles down a man after guard Brandon Brooks tore his Achilles this week, there might just be a perfect landing spot for the Patriots to send their franchise-tagged lineman.
NFL insider Albert Breer explained exactly why the Eagles would be interested in Thuney on NBC Sports Boston.
“I can tell you the Eagles are a team that really like Joe Thuney,” Breer said. “If they had a pressing need at guard, they would’ve gone after him in free agency. Now, they lose Brandon Brooks who is arguably the best guard in the league before he got hurt last year.
“They’ve got a couple guys in the pipeline that they really like, that I’m sure they want to kick the tires on, but if those young guys don’t develop over the first week or two of camp I wouldn’t be surprised if the Eagles were a team that jumped in and said ‘We got to do something here, they’ve got one of the best guards in the league, let’s go get him.'”
The Patriots could be open to the idea of trading Thuney, even though he’s been a consistent and reliable starter throughout his tenure. At this point, the Patriots are stuck in a very tight cap situation heading into the 2020 season.
According to Miguel Benzan, a salary cap expert, the Patriots have just $650,989 in cap space. So, if the Patriots want to make any moves to improve their team or just simply keep up with injuries, they will have to make some roster moves.
Trading Thuney would free up all of the $14.871 million he’s set to earn this year, and the Patriots have a couple options at guard who could fill in for Thuney including second-year guard Hjalte Froholdt or rookie Michael Onwenu.
It will be interesting to see what Bill Belichick does if a team comes calling for Thuney. Will he move on from the consistency of Thuney to save the money?
No one knows, but whatever he does, it will be in the best interest of the football team.
