My thoughts the day the trade happened were mixed. However the more the facts were uncovered about Mankins decline in the passing game, the more prescient this trade becomes. Mankins' game had slipped from being an elite top 3 OG, to being a solid NFL guard who was being paid top money for his position.
I also believe his trade was less about paying $6MM, than the fact he had a $10MM cap number. The Pats might have have been able to live with the $6MM payout for another year of solid but unspectacular play, but couldn't live with the $10 cap number. I speculate that the late date of the trade was an attempt by the Pats to see if Logan had upped his game this off season. When they determined they were likely to get more of the same this season and it wasn't going to get better as the years passed So they pulled the trigger. Again let me reiterate, "more of the same", didn't mean they thought he'd be bad, just not close to be being worth the cap number
The biggest loss for the Pats was the loss of his leadership and locker room presence, but as far as actual production on the field, not so much. Though I think it did effect the run game, especially early on. Nothing coming out of Tampa would lead us to believe that Mankins' play is anything more than ordinary. (BTW he only counts $6MM on the TB cap, not $10)
On the other end, Wright seems like a very nice role player who fit a need. He is slowly becoming more of a factor in the regular offense, and his 3 TDs in very limited snap confirms his value in the red zone. As of this moment it would be hard to call Wright an impact player, but clearly his best days are ahead of him. Right now he's just a nice tool in Josh's tool box.
So as of right now, the Pats lost nothing on the field, and if you want to tweak some stats, you can justify saying the OL's play has improved somewhat from last season. They got a player who had a skill set they needed, plus an additional draft pick who projects to be around #100.
Just on this basis alone, the trade has to be considered a win. THEN add the cap benefits and their potential consequences and this deal becomes an unmitigated home run. (sorry DI, but the breeze we all feel is your prodigious swing and miss. Better luck on the next one.
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