3 pre-draft NFL trades that make too much sense
By Matt Conner
Trade: Artie Burns to the New England Patriots
The trade winds have already swirled around Artie Burns once before. Last season, the former Pittsburgh Steelers first round pick was the subject of enough trade rumors around the NFL’s mid-season deadline that he felt forced to comment on them.
“I don’t really care. If I get traded, I get traded. I’ll still have a job somewhere else. I’m here to work,” said Burns in late October.
Two days later, Mike Tomlin decided to bench Burns for an entire game against the Cleveland Browns for being late to a walkthrough practice. By late December, Burns was once again with the second unit as Cam Sutton took over across from Joe Haden. Altogether, the 2018 season was not a memorable one for Burns, a former star out of Miami.
This offseason, the Steelers have already decided to end the question marks on the outside by paying former Chiefs cornerback Steven Nelson to man the outside across from Haden. Sutton remains in play, as does Burns for now, but the Steelers also have a nice inside guy in Mike Hilton and could add another impact corner in the first round, as many mocks expect them to do (a good move for passing Haden’s eventual torch).
Enter the New England Patriots, a team with a wealth of draft picks to use for such a deal as this. Burns shouldn’t excite anyone on the surface, given the fact that he finished last year with the second worst passer rating allowed among corners. However, Burns was a former first round pick for a reason, and his season-long-hiccups were of his own making—a seeming lack of mental toughness to be able to push through the demands of the position.
The Patriots have a long-standing track record of taking chances on prospects that didn’t fare too well in their initial NFL home, and what Burns could use right now is a change of scenery (and likely coaching voices around him). While he wouldn’t be a reliable option at first, the Patriots would take on a low-risk proposition with potentially high rewards at a position of decent need.
The Giants grabbed fourth and seventh-round picks from the Saints in exchange for Eli Apple, another disappointing rookie corner from the same class. The Pats could easily afford that for a high-reward flyer and the Steelers could earn some draft capital to move as they please in exchange for a player who could lose any remaining value with another frustrating year.