New England made a couple of surprising trades this week, which saw one player on both sides of the football each sent off to new clubs in respective deals.
Both linebacker Chase Winovich and offensive lineman Shaq Mason were dealt away by the club on Tuesday as the team makes changes heading into 2022. According to reports, Winovich was shipped off to Cleveland in a deal that saw the Patriots end up with 24-year old Browns linebacker Mack Wilson. As the Patriots continue trying to infuse some youth and speed into that group, Wilson appears to be a player who might give them that and he’s a young experienced NFL linebacker, which Belichick has always coveted.
For Winovich, his departure is disappointing but it appears his skillset is simply one that doesn’t fit into the Patriots’ overall scheme. His playtime in 2021 diminished to the point where he was non-existent for much of the season, marking yet another year where he didn’t really offer much in terms of contributions after getting off to a fast start early in his career. He was originally selected in the 3rd round out of Michigan with the 77th overall pick in 2019 and showed a lot of promise early on before things seemed to come undone and whatever was going on behind the scenes appears to have led to a change of scenery for him.
As for Mason, his trade likely came due to salary cap reasons but the compensation was a little surprising. New England reportedly dealt him for just a 5th round selection, with the Patriots sending him to Tampa Bay where he’ll be reunited with Tom Brady. But Mason had been one of their better offensive linemen and it sets them up in a situation where they’re going to have to try and add depth, especially considering they’ve already also lost Ted Karras, who went to Cincinnati via free agency.
Fortunately, the Patriots did manage to retain interior offensive lineman James Ferentz, with the Boston Globe’s Jim McBride reporting that Ferentz agreed to terms on a one-year deal. It’s still early in the offseason and these two moves have certainly made things interesting as Bill Belichick continues building the 2022 roster.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
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