New England Patriots prove their mastery over the NFL yet again
By Erik Lambert
People love to say the reason the New England Patriots are so great is they’ve had Tom Brady for so. It’s not nearly so simple as that.
The reason they’ve been great for so long is they have a better understanding of the inner workings of the NFL than any team in the league. They know how to take advantage of it too. Their latest example is left tackle Trent Brown. Last season the team traded a 3rd round pick to the San Francisco 49ers to get him and a 5th round pick in return. He ended up starting every game in 2018 for them at left tackle, resulting in a Super Bowl victory.
Now he becomes a free agent and will sign the richest offensive lineman contract in NFL history with the Oakland Raiders at $66 million over four years. This not only makes it an incredible calendar year for Brown himself, but also does his former team one last solid. By signing that contract, he assured the Patriots will receive a 3rd round compensatory pick in the 2020 draft.
So not only do the Patriots get a Super Bowl season from him, they also get back the same kind of pick they originally gave up for him in the end.
Former Patriots’ OT Trent Brown intends to sign a four-year, $66 million contract that includes $36.75 million guaranteed with the Oakland Raiders, per source, making him highest paid OL in NFL history.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 11, 2019
Patriots once again teach the lesson that trading with them is ill-advised
It’s amazing that NFL teams haven’t figured it out by now. If the Patriots come calling for a certain player, it might be time to take a second and reevaluate whether that player is worth releasing to begin with. Maybe it’s time to enact a goal that the Pittsburgh Steelers have taken up. That is to say there will be no trading with New England henceforth. Why bother taking the risk that you’ll make a team that’s dominated for so long better?
Not that the Patriots will be worried too much about that. There will always be takers of some players they simply have no idea how to employ on the field properly. Maybe that’s why so many organizations try to emulate them. The problem is they don’t have the man running the show in Bill Belichick. If people weren’t already convinced that he’s the greatest of all-time, let this be just another reiminder.