New England Patriots: Trading up for QB makes too much sense
The New England Patriots have plenty of options for the 2021 NFL Draft, including making potentially the boldest move in Bill Belichick’s tenure of being in charge of the team.
During the 2021 free agent signing period, the Patriots were spending money like Harry and Lloyd in Dumb and Dumber and they really made substantial upgrades to their roster on both sides of the ball.
After Tom Brady departed for Tampa Bay in free agency, the New England Patriots made a move that has set off sort of a chain reaction of uncharacteristic changes for the way this team has historically approached roster building.
That move was signing Cam Newton to be the team’s starting quarterback in 2020.
The decision to sign Newton was a signal-fire of dramatic change in New England. Stylistically (on the field and off), Newton and Tom Brady are polar opposites. Although Newton was not the MVP of the league a few years ago just because of his running abilities, he is not Tom Brady from the pocket.
The New England Patriots revamped their entire offensive scheme when they brought in Newton at quarterback, and they liked the foundation they had built enough to re-sign Newton for the 2021 season at a substantial raise.
Re-signing Newton was another signal that change is there to stay in New England. Will Nike the dog be working the phone lines during the 2021 NFL Draft to help the Pats make yet another uncharacteristic move?
Specifically, will the New England Patriots make a bold move up the board into the top 10 selections to get a quarterback?
It’s not only something they could do, it’s something they almost undoubtedly should do.
The New England Patriots have already been the subject of plenty of trade-up rumors leading up to the 2021 NFL Draft. They have loaded up their roster for the foreseeable future but they do not have a quarterback beyond 2021.
The Patriots do not typically spend big to move up in the NFL Draft. That hasn’t been their style. However, really nothing has been their style that we’ve seen in the last two months, even the last year-plus.
The justification for the New England Patriots trading up for a quarterback is the same for a number of teams that have both strong rosters and question marks at the position — QBs are the most valuable currency in the league.
When is the last time the Patriots used a first-round pick on a quarterback?
Okay, to be fair, they haven’t really needed to, but let’s look at the fact that since he became the head coach of the Denver Broncos in 2009, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has been sending signals that he wants to run an offense where the quarterback running game is prominently featured.
As soon as McDaniels departed New England in 2009, he traded Jay Cutler, spent a year working with Kyle Orton, and he drafted Tim Tebow in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft. We never got to see what kind of offense McDaniels had in mind for Tebow in Denver because he was fired before Tebow started any games, but it’s fair to wonder if at least a version of what he had planned back then was implemented with Cam Newton in 2020.
And the Patriots have decided to build on that.
They should now be aggressive and move up for Trey Lance, who could be the ideal prospect in this draft class to sit and learn for a year or two behind a former MVP like Newton, get his feet wet if Newton has to miss any time for injury, and be the long-term option for this type of offense that McDaniels seems to really want to run.
The Patriots can’t sit at pick 15 and just hope one of those guys falls. They have to move up and get the right guy.