It seems to me that - for a trade to happen - there needs to be a clear redundancy at a position/role, and another team that's sufficiently interested in that specific player to be willing to pay at least minimum draft pick value.
However, WE don't really know yet what redundancies - if any - exist on the roster. Some POTENTIAL redundancies MAY include:
Rowe - if, and only if, JMAC has proven himself to be a starter, AND one or more of Lewis/Jackson/Crossen appear capable of being an emergency starter and solid ST contributer.
... Minimum price, probably a 4th-rounder. Unless he stays healthy and plays lights-out for the Pats in 2018, he seems unlikely to generate a 3rd-round comp-pick in 2019 FA.
Richards - if Pleasant pans out, the Pats might get a conditional 7th for Richards as a high-end STer from a team that might not have a solid chance to get a waiver-claim through (e.g., one of last season's playoff teams).
Malcom Brown - if, and only if, Valentine appears to be an adequate reserve/rotational sub for Shelton - a major stretch from my perspective.
... Minimum price: 4th-rounder. I'm not certain that Brown would get a 3rd-round Comp-pick level contract in 2019 (the DT pay-scale is very high), so the Pats may be able to retain him at reasonable money beyond 2018 anyway.
Trey Flowers - if, and only if, BOTH Rivers and Davis appear capable of handling fairly heavy snaps as part of a 4-man rotation with Clayborn and Wise. This seems fairly unlikely to me at this point.
... Minimum price: 3rd-rounder (FIRM). Flowers might already be in line to generate a 3rd-round level Comp pick in 2019 FA. A very good 2018 performance from him would virtually guarantee that.
Gillislee - as with Richards, there's outside chance that Pats could get a conditional 7th for him within a narrow set of circumstances
Dwayne Allen - if, and only if, BOTH Hollister AND Izzo have demonstrated very good blocking ability, AND Hollister's reported improvement as a receiver isn't being exaggerated.
... Minimum price: probably a 5th-rounder, maybe a 6th (due to current contract)
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Mason - This one I'm not at all sure about because there are so many moving parts for which we know basically nothing about the coaches evals. The 2018 FA market seemed to sbe in the mood to pay high rates to good IOL. If that mood continues into 2019 FA, Mason is almost certain to generate a 3rd-round level Comp pick.
However, for the Pats to move on from Mason NOW (for a minimum 3rd-rounder), it seems to me pretty much ALL of the following conditions would need to be met:
- the coaches are confident that Cannon is likely to get, and remain, healthy
- that at least one of Waddle/Wynn/Tobin (?) would be a capable starter at RT
- that Thuney could move to RG and that Wynn could replace him at starting LG this season
- that Croston is a capable backup OG/swing-tackle
- that both Karras and Schwenke are capable backup OC/OG
- that there's at least SOME chance they'll be able to re-sign Trent Brown to a longer term deal
(making the 2018 AND 2019 starting OL Brown-Wynn-Andrews-Thuney-Cannon)
