Patriots trading up for Tua Tagovailoa keeps making more sense
The Patriots trading up for Tua Tagovailoa is starting to really make sense.
For the first time since the early 2010s, the Patriots lost in the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs and as a result, are set to draft at pick 23. Typically the Patriots are near the end of the first round and take a player at a strong position of need – as most teams do.
This year, quarterback is a huge position of need because the team will be without Tom Brady who has been their starting signal caller since 2001. At pick 23, it’s highly unlikely they’d be able to draft the three best quarterback prospects in this year’s draft, which is why the Patriots might have to do a very un-Patriot-like move and trade up.
A player that would make sense to trade up for could be Tua Tagovailoa, who is either going to be a top five pick or could experience a slide and fall into the middle of round one. If there’s any truth to the Patriots flipping Rob Gronkowski to the Buccaneers, the Patriots could add more picks that could give them the draft capital they need to trade up and get Tagovailoa.
Patriots and Buccaneers have been discussing a trade for retired TE Rob Gronkowski, per league sources. Gronkowski has one year and $10 million left on his contract. But the two sides are, and have been talking, prior to Thursday’s draft.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 21, 2020
The consensus this offseason has been that New England appears to be content with having Jarrett Stidham — their fourth round pick in last year’s draft — as their starter, but does anyone believe Stidham is actually the long-term answer? If New England traded up, took Tua, and he wasn’t fully healthy to start the year, Stidham could start for the first half of the season and then Tua could step in when he’s good to go.
It’ll be an interesting draft for the New England Patriots because for the first time in 20 years, they don’t have a franchise quarterback. As such, they’ll have to try and find a guy who they could potentially see as their future signal-caller.
By selecting Tua Tagovailoa, not only would the Patriots have their quarterback of the future for the next 10-15 years (assuming everything goes according to plan), but they’d also keep him out of Miami, who is in their division. The Dolphins would be kicking themselves for not getting him and having to face him twice a year.
Trading up for someone as popular as Tua Tagovailoa doesn’t seem like ‘the Patriot way’, but this is a different offseason for the six-time champions, so we can’t rule anything out.