Pats may trade DG

[NOWAKJOE]

According to Scout.com
New England Patriots - Don't be surprised if the team winds up trading veteran TE Daniel Graham by April's draft. The former first-round pick has been underutilized in the passing offense in recent seasons and is on the final year of his contract at only $545,000. The team is very high on third-year TE Ben Watson and likely will increase his role going forward.
What do you think they could get in return?

 

[BelichickFan]

I hadn't thought of that although I did think we may take a first day TE in case Graham leaves after 2006 and because he and Watson are hurt a lot. I'll let someone else guess what we could get, he would probably be the second best TE available this year (behind Vernon Davis) and wouldn't require a monster contract so I think he would have some good value.

 

[Alk]

That would be a very poor move if we traded Graham. Of our two TEs I feel that he is by far the more complete of the two. Watson is more of a threat in the passing game but Graham is a good receiving TE and one of the best blockers in the league. Watson's blocking isn't even close.

 

[primetime]

Ridiculous idle speculation wins the day again. This year's tight end class is probably the strongest ever. Trading Graham in a year in which normal first round prospects will be taken in the mid rounds would be poor asset management.

To say nothing that trading Graham would be a step in the wrong direction, seeing as how he is a great blocker, athlete, and has cured his dropsies.

 

[Ring 6]

It makes no sense to me.

Why would you trade a starting player with a 545,000 cap number???????????

The other premise is flawed as well, because we use 2 TEs very frequently.
Watson wouldn't surpass Graham, they would both be on the field together.

A better way to look at it is let's call Watson a FB. Since we use him as a H-back with no FB on the field its almost totally accurate anyway.

Why would you trade your TE because you are happy with your FB?

 

[pats1]

Scout obviously must think the Patriots only use a single tight end. Like primetime said - ridiculous speculation. I don't know where "scout" gets their assesments, but they're piss-poor.

 

[Ring 6]

Scout obviously must think the Patriots only use a single tight end. Like primetime said - ridiculous speculation. I don't know where "scout" gets their assesments, but they're piss-poor.

Well, if you are trying to think of a story to write, and you look at the Pats without consiering all the factors, you think, hey, Graham isnt as productive as a receiver as we may have expected (why they dont consider his great blocking is beyond me) and here come Ben Watson looking like a stud. Maybe they'll trade graham to make room for Watson.
It just ignores a small aspect of the equation called facts.

 

[BionicPatriot]

They're fools, and that move would make absolutely no sense. Why trade a valuable TE who we use in a TWO tight end set, and is HUGE for the blocking in the running game? Let us not even forget the fact that Watson has proven NOTIHNG but inconsistancy, and it's not like Graham has a cap number thats hurting us. What a stupid rumor. We wouldn't even get anything for Graham I bet.

 

[rookBoston]

I completely agree. This rumor is schlock.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Nowak,

You'd get better information reading the troll posts on the forum, sad as they may be. Pound for pound Grahambo is the best blocker on the team, before his shoulder injury he was lighting up the defenses. Benjamin is a good receiver with potential to be brilliant, his speed was recently matched by Vernon Davis' 40 at the Combine, but his blocking is shaky, he was still missing assignments in the Jag's game even though he also laid some bell ringers on. Besides, BB likes two and three TE sets.

 

[jczxohn1]

If D-Giv goes, it is far more likely for the Pats to go for a high ranked tight end in the draft to pair with Graham, moving Watson to an H-back or even split out #2 WR spot. He is the best candidate to take over Given's routes, especially in view of the weak WR class.

 

[BionicPatriot]

If D-Giv goes, it is far more likely for the Pats to go for a high ranked tight end in the draft to pair with Graham, moving Watson to an H-back or even split out #2 WR spot. He is the best candidate to take over Given's routes, especially in view of the weak WR class.

Now your just talking crazy.

 

[NOWAKJOE]

Nowak,

You'd get better information reading the troll posts on the forum, sad as they may be. Pound for pound Grahambo is the best blocker on the team, before his shoulder injury he was lighting up the defenses. Benjamin is a good receiver with potential to be brilliant, his speed was recently matched by Vernon Davis' 40 at the Combine, but his blocking is shaky, he was still missing assignments in the Jag's game even though he also laid some bell ringers on. Besides, BB likes two and three TE sets.

This is the first year I subscribed to Scouts.com, do you think everything they write is fabricated?

 

[BelichickFan]

Depending what they could get I don't think it's that ridiculous. Watson is signed for 4 more years, if they drafted a good TE who'll be ready soon they would be set at the all important TE position for quite a while. As opposed to now where they'll have only Watson in 2007 unless they ante up for Graham. I wouldn't dump him for a #6 but if they got something good for him it's worth considering.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

This is the first year I subscribed to Scouts.com, do you think everything they write is fabricated?

Fabricated, no. Ignorant regarding the Patriots, more often than not. I've heard others report they do a good job for their teams, but reading their free stuff (I've never subscribed) has left me with a very low opinion of their Patriots' knowledge.

 

[JOhnnyBravo]

Depending what they could get I don't think it's that ridiculous. Watson is signed for 4 more years, if they drafted a good TE who'll be ready soon they would be set at the all important TE position for quite a while. As opposed to now where they'll have only Watson in 2007 unless they ante up for Graham. I wouldn't dump him for a #6 but if they got something good for him it's worth considering.

I heard that rumor somewhere else... but I can't find the link. I think it was on a dallas site or NFC team I troll from time to time giants maybe.

It really doesn't make much sense on the surface, but Graham has been injured just about every year. They say he's the best blocker on the team and for that reason alone they should keep him.

Who would they get if they do trade him? They need another TE to block, unless Fauria comes back.

 

[JOhnnyBravo]

Fabricated, no. Ignorant regarding the Patriots, more often than not. I've heard others report they do a good job for their teams, but reading their free stuff (I've never subscribed) has left me with a very low opinion of their Patriots' knowledge.

I took their trial for a lark and it worked out pretty well. They do have some stuff worth reading, but I'm more of an ESPN reader.

They have a decent college network, so there is a lot of draft coverage this time of year. You could probably get a lot of pats news there.

here's one from their draft site -
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_y...=citadel-2_505225_121&prov=citadel&type=story