Report: Dwayne Allen to be traded to New England Patriots

The New England Patriots may have found their coveted No. 2 tight end for 2017 by trading for Dwayne Allen with the Indianapolis Colts.

After the Indianapolis Colts decided to bring back tight end Jack Doyle on a long-term deal Tuesday night, the writing seemed to be on the wall for the Colts’ other tight end Dwayne Allen. According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the New England Patriots are going to trade for Allen this offseason. This is a big shocker for sure.

Historically, Indianapolis and New England have been bitter rivals in the AFC. Not to say that they wouldn’t do business with each other in trades, but it is strange to see these two teams enter trade negotiations.

Indianapolis has the cap space to bring back Allen if the Colts wanted to, but re-signing Doyle severely limited what Allen could make with the Colts going forward. New England’s interest in Allen is obvious. The Patriots need that coveted No. 2 tight end to pair alongside often-injured All-Pro Rob Gronkowski.

New England hit pay dirt with Martellus Bennett in 2016. He helped New England win Super Bowl LI over the Atlanta Falcons, emerging as the No. 1 tight end once Gronkowski got hurt mid-season. However, Bennett stands to make more in free agency that what New England would be willing to offer.

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Don’t question the Patriots’ ability to scout the rest of the NFL. Indianapolis may have moved on from Allen with Doyle’s ascension, but the Patriots clearly have a use for him up in Foxborough. As long as Josh McDaniels is the offensive coordinator in New England, he’ll want to use his two tight end sets to help make things easier for quarterback Tom Brady in the passing game.