Patriots are unquestioned masters of the 'pick-swap' trade

[maust]

It's not a new thought but with the draft approaching Duffy has put together a nice piece on one of the Pats greatest strengths, identifying and capitalizing on market inefficiencies. Definitely worth a read:
Patriots have dominated in ‘pick swap’ trades – Boston Herald

Just looking at the Trent Brown pick-swap' trade:
"In the end, the breakdown from the trade looks like this:
San Francisco received: the No. 95 pick (safety Tarvarius Moore), cap relief from Brown’s base salary>
New England received: a starting left tackle in 2018, the No. 143 pick (Bentley), and likely a 2020 third-round compensatory pick for Brown’s departure in free agency.
The outgoing 2018 third-round selection and the incoming 2020 third-round selection cancel out. This means the Pats got one year of Brown and Bentley essentially for free. That’s absolute best-case scenario."

 

[fnordcircle]

Good write up but 'essentially for free' doesn't account for the opportunity cost. It'll be 'essentially free' or a win, in my mind, if we win the SB this season as well, otherwise you have to wonder if that 2018 3rd rounder might have been a difference maker that would have let us win it this year too.

Overall that's a minor quibble, though. It's really cool to see how this team manages their ****.

 

[TB_Helmet]

Good article. The numbers are insightful -- 30+% of 'pick swap' trades over the past few years have been by the Patriots.

One thing it doesn't mention is the Pats are also taking the cap hit when they trade for that player, which is often a big part of the reason the other team is trading him in the first place. So I wouldn't say they're getting him "for free", because cap space is a resource.

Also the note about Ealy being one of the only pick swap players not to make the team is interesting. People were up in arms about that since we traded out of the second round to get him, but really it was just to move down a dozen or so spots into the third round.

 

[Ivan]

Looking forward to more of it in a few weeks.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

I think teams fall in love with certain draftable players and forget that nfl player tape is way more indicative than draftees tape.

Bb finds guys on other teams that are not being used properly and can help our team and he entices those teams to trade with draft picks,

 

[maust]

One thing it doesn't mention is the Pats are also taking the cap hit when they trade for that player, which is often a big part of the reason the other team is trading him in the first place. So I wouldn't say they're getting him "for free", because cap space is a resource.

$1.9M in 'resource' to protect TB12's blindside on the way to a Super Bowl win, not too shabby

 

[Soliel]

I’ve always hated every trade and every draft pick but then look dumb later. This year, I’m just watching

 

[SammyBlueCat]

Coach Bill possesses a Cat like quick mind

 

[borg]

One thing it doesn't mention is the Pats are also taking the cap hit when they trade for that player, which is often a big part of the reason the other team is trading him in the first place. So I wouldn't say they're getting him "for free", because cap space is a resource.

Pats do this trade because of the cap hit which will almost always be less than buying a FA on the open market.

Pats do this trade because it preserves their comp pick inventory.

It is a short term maneuver because of the limited years of team control but a great bridge toward a longer term solution