Scenario: A surprise trade

[captain stone]

Where are you getting these cap numbers for Devin McCourty at? He’s a 12m dollar cap hit this year and has a 13.5m dollar cap hit for 2019.

All the more reason to seriously, seriously consider trading him. He is nowhere near close to worth that $13.5M cap hit.

 

[supafly]

All the more reason to seriously, seriously consider trading him. He is nowhere near close to worth that $13.5M cap hit.

I get where you’re coming from.

Some thoughts to consider:

—how important are McCourty’s back end play and leadership skills? We know that he’s an excellent tackler. We know that he’s a mediocre pass defender, but that he has precious experience. How much of a loss would it be? Is he really the glue that holds the secondary together, or just an overpaid FS? I really don’t know the answer to that, although I tend to lean towards the former.

—will the Pats draft a safety high in this year’s draft? There are more holes to fill than in most years, so this is anyone’s guess. If so, you could be onto something. Fingers crossed that it’s a high pick for the secondary that works out.

—what would a team give us in trade value? It obviously wouldn’t be a first. Would it be a second? I don’t know. Surely, we could get a third, I’m assuming. Is a third enough compensation for you, or are you simply doing it for cost saving purposes? I’m hesitant to think that we could just move on in 2018, at least with this year’s crop of CBs and an aging (and weak against the pass Chung).

 

[captain stone]

I get where you’re coming from.

Some thoughts to consider:

—how important are McCourty’s back end play and leadership skills? We know that he’s an excellent tackler. We know that he’s a mediocre pass defender, but that he has precious experience. How much of a loss would it be? Is he really the glue that holds the secondary together, or just an overpaid FS? I really don’t know the answer to that, although I tend to lean towards the former.

—will the Pats draft a safety high in this year’s draft? There are more holes to fill than in most years, so this is anyone’s guess. If so, you could be onto something. Fingers crossed that it’s a high pick for the secondary that works out.

—what would a team give us in trade value? It obviously wouldn’t be a first. Would it be a second? I don’t know. Surely, we could get a third, I’m assuming. Is a third enough compensation for you, or are you simply doing it for cost saving purposes? I’m hesitant to think that we could just move on in 2018, at least with this year’s crop of CBs and an aging (and weak against the pass Chung).

I wonder if Bill would more strongly consider moving McCourty - Detroit would be the obvious fit - for a package that included a 2nd-round pick, if he were more confident in Harmon's ability to become a reliable last line of defense. If he were, then Bill could use one of his 2nd-rounders on Justin Reid or Ronnie Harrison, and use the savings to fill holes elsewhere.

 

[VJCPatriot]

It's not that BB doesn't value WRs, he just sucks at drafting them. Please see our WR draft picks for the last 15 years. He acquires much better value when he trades for WRs, see guys like Randy Moss, Wes Welker. Chris Hogan, Danny Amendola, Brandin Cooks, etc., etc.

And I'm almost afraid when we have 2nd round picks because BB seems to whiff just as badly on safeties and cornerbacks. He tends to have more success in the mid to late round drafting sleeper cornerbacks like Asante Samuel, Kyle Arrington, Logan Ryan, Malcolm Butler, etc.

A cost-controlled CB2, a second-day draft pick, 7 million in cap savings.

That's not nothing. I wouldn't do it, but I value WRs more than BB seems to.