Tennessee Titans, New England Patriots trade continues to make sense
By Will Lomas
It takes two to make a trade happen in the NFL draft, and the Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots continue to make sense as eventual trade partners.
Mike Reiss has been covering the New England Patriots for 25 years, and in his most recent ESPN article, he talked about what the Patriots might do with their first-round pick this year.
According to Reiss, he thinks that Bill Belichick will look at this draft and believe that trading back ten picks or so, will give him good value without missing a chance to take one of his guys.
Here is the key quote from that article:
"“Best educated guess? Bill Belichick will work hard to trade down in the first round, as this is the type of draft where the strength and value is in the 30-90 range.So if the Patriots’ head coach can pull off something similar to 2020 — when Belichick shipped No. 23 to the Los Angeles Chargers in exchange for a high second-rounder (37) and third-rounder (71) — that might be viewed as ideal. The Patriots picked promising safety Kyle Dugger at 37 and used 71 in a different trade to move up for athletic linebacker Josh Uche.”"
In that article, he goes on to say that the players he would identify as great fits for the Patriots are: Dax Hill (DB), Travis Jones (NT), Devin Lloyd (LB), Chad Muuma (LB), Jameson Williams (WR that has no chance of being there at 21).
Do the Tennessee Titans make sense as trade-down partners?
Since the Patriots could trade down with the Tennessee Titans and still potentially trade down again if all of those players are still on the board, let’s be conservative and say that New England would accept picks 26 and 131 (4th) in exchange for pick 21.
I actually already wrote about why this trade would make sense and why it would mimic a trade that Jon Robinson made a few years ago before the Reiss article even came out. The main point of that article is that a later pick could be the difference between drafting the third-best wide receiver in this class and the fifth or sixth-best wide receiver in this class.
The Green Bay Packers (22nd pick), Arizona Cardinals (23rd), Dallas Cowboys (24th), and Buffalo Bills (25th) are all teams that could be looking to draft a wide receiver in this class.
Even if there are no truly elite wide receiver draft prospects in this class, it is hard to find any sensible person who doesn’t like Drake London, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Treylon Burks, and Jameson Williams.
Assuming that Wilson, London, and Williams are the first receivers off of the board on Thursday, a trade-up could ensure that the Titans get their guy in Treylon Burks instead of reaching for Jahan Dotson or Skyy Moore.
In the end, the Patriots could trade down again with the Seattle Seahawks who are considering moving back into the first round to grab a quarterback, and end up with five or six picks over the next few rounds and the flexibility to go up and get whoever they want on Day 2.
On the other hand, the Titans could snatch Treylon Burks while still having a third-round pick to find someone to compete for the left guard position at some point this season. That is a win-win for everyone involved with almost no risk for either team.