I really like this latest trick of trade a draft pick for a player and a later pick.
The Bennett deal is a great example of that. BB trades a 4th for Marty and a 6th rounder. They use the 6th as part of a great deal to get a future 4th. Marty helps us win a Super Bowl, then leaves town, and projects to...bring us a 4th in next year's compensatory draft picks.
So we basically got a year of Marty and a 6th that we used quite well for delaying on using a 4th a few years.
The best part is because we're often picking late, the trade backs don't even matter as much. Like this year, we trade a 2nd round pick for Kony Ealy and a 3rd. Except our 2nd is the last pick of the round, and the 3rd is the 8th pick in the round. So we moved 8 spots back and get a player too.
The move back from 64 to 72 is worth 40 value points - equivalent to the 132nd overall pick - according to the old trade value chart. According to the new AV trade value chart, this trade down is worth o.7 points, the equivalent of the 204th pick.
Assuming that Ealy is a one-year rental, and given the cap situation heading into 2018 I would think he is, then he stands to net the team a comp pick.
If Ealy replicates Mingo's role on the team (core STer with minimal contribution to the defense), then signs elsewhere, the team maybe nets a 7th round comp pick. In this situation, Ealy costs the equivalent of a mid 7th round pick according to the old chart. The cost is off the AV chart because it is so low.
If Ealy performs similarly to Sheard then signs elsewhere - probably the most likely scenario - then the team nets a comp pick in the 4th to 5th round range. In this case, you get a year of Ealy for free according to the old chart, and gain the equivalent of a low 5th according to the AV chart.
If Ealy has a Mark Anderson 2011 kind of year, posting double digit sacks while defenses load up against Flowers, he signs a big money deal and the Pats get a 3rd round comp pick. In this case, the Patriots are getting a year of star play and earning dollars to the penny in draft value.
This move gets lost in the hype of Gilmore, Cooks, Butler and Garoppolo, but it could end up the best value trade of the Belichick era.