NFL Draft 2021: Blockbuster trades that would shake up the first round
New England moves up to take their quarterback of the future
Now that the Carolina Panthers have traded for Sam Darnold, it appears that the lane is much clearer for the New England Patriots to land their potential quarterback of the future in the 2021 NFL Draft. The only team that has a major need at quarterback between the third overall pick and when New England picks at No. 15 is the Denver Broncos. In order to land the quarterback on the top of their board, the Patriots may have to move up into the top 10 before Denver picks.
Since New England broke their status quo by spending big money on major free agents to fill most of their needs, they may continue their unorthodox offseason by trading up in the first round in order to take a new franchise quarterback.
Out of all of the realistic options for New England, the player who can be the most dangerous is Ohio State’s Justin Fields. He would be a perfect fit in New England’s newer offense that features a mobile quarterback. Fields has been compared to Patriots starter Cam Newton. Like Newton, Fields is a larger athletic quarterback who is more than capable of being a threat tucking the ball and running when the play breaks down.
Fields also shares a trait with Tom Brady, as he values the football and limits turnovers. He is pocket quarterback first and then uses his mobility and athleticism as a second option when the play breaks down. Since Fields is slightly raw as a prospect, New England would not have to worry about playing him right away and could have him sit behind Newton until he is ready for game action.
Since it is extremely unlikely that Miami makes a deal with division rival New England allowing them to take their potential starting quarterback for the next decade, the most likely spot New England can trade up to is the seventh overall pick which belongs to Detroit. The Lions are in an obvious rebuild with their new regime, so they may be open to moving back and stockpiling draft picks to the ones they acquired in the Matthew Stafford deal. If they added New England’s first-round pick next year they would have three first-round selections in 2022 and two first-round selections in 2023.
They especially would trade down if the players they are targeting with the seventh overall pick are not available. The players that Detroit could look to add with that selection are likely LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and Alabama wide receiver Devonta Smith. Detroit could trade down and bet on the depth of this year’s receiver group to add the receiver they need in the later rounds.
If Detroit trades down to New England’s selection in the first round, they would likely take the best defensive player on the board to grab a cornerstone player to help rebuild this defense that has been near the bottom of the league for a few years. The best player that could be available at pick No. 15 is Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons.
Detroit Lions
Even though Parsons’ talent would make him a top 10 player in the 2021 NFL Draft, his off-the-field concerns and the value of his position may drop him to the middle of the first round. Detriot needs a linebacker especially after the Jarrad Davis experiment ended the way that it did. Taking a chance on Parsons would give Detriot two blue-chip prospects with high ceilings in Parsons and 2020 third overall pick Jeff Okudah to build their defense around.
Another piece of a deal that Detriot could ask for in a deal with New England is wide receiver N’Keal Harry. New England took Harry out of Arizona with the 32nd overall pick in 2019. He was expected to fill the void for a red zone threat in New England’s offense and potentially become the team’s number one outside threat. He has disappointed since then and struggled to maintain a role in the team’s offense. Now that New England has added Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne this offseason, Harry will likely be the team’s WR4 behind the free-agent additions and Jakobi Meyers. This would likely make him the team’s sixth or seventh option in the passing game behind those receivers, Hunter Henry, Jonnu Smith, and possibly James White.
Coming out of Arizona, Harry was supposed to be a jump ball receiver with the athleticism and playmaking ability to be a team’s primary or secondary receiver. His failures may not completely be his fault. Harry is far from the first highly-regarded receiver to underperform in New England’s offense. In the past, veteran receivers like Mohammed Sanu, Josh Gordon, and Chad (OchoCinco) Johnson have struggled in New England’s offense. Many veteran receivers like Sanu have publicly said how hard it is to understand and play in New England’s offense. So it is understandable that a young receiver like Harry struggled in New England.
A change of scenery may be what Harry needs with two seasons and a fifth-year option left on his contract to turn it around. Harry could immediately emerge as one of Detroit’s primary receiving options behind tight end T.J. Hockenson. His other competition for targets would be Tyrell Williams, Breshad Perriman, and whoever Detriot takes in the 2021 NFL Draft. If the Lions could turn Harry into at least a solid second outside receiver, it would be well worth adding him to the deal instead of a mid-round pick.