A Patriots-49ers trade that would give new Pats QB a fighting chance

The New England Patriots are essentially beginning the post-Bill Belichick era with a blank slate. We have no clue what Jerod Mayo brings to the table as a head coach, aside from eight years of playing experience... under Bill Belichick. The front office has been restructured around former Packers exec Eliot Wolf. The roster is a complete mess, but hey — there's nowhere to go but up.

April's NFL Draft will be a seminal moment in the Patriots' rebuild. It could very well come to define the next era of Patriots football. New England is equipped with the No. 3 pick, which we all expect to be used on a quarterback. It's unclear which QB the Pats will select, as the outlooks for Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels, and J.J. McCarthy seem to change every hour. But, we know the Pats will draft a rookie to compete with Jacoby Brissett in camp. It is all but written in stone.

That cannot be the full extent of New England's offseason plan, though. Aside from adding more complementary talent in later rounds of the draft, New England needs to meaningfully upgrade the supporting cast. It starts with the WR position. New England's WR room was one of the worst in football last season, which certainly didn't help Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe. A good quarterback can go a long way, but it's all moot if the pass-catchers can't execute.

JuJu Smith-Schuster was a disaster. DeMario Douglas popped as a rookie, but he's not WR1 material. Not yet, at least. We won't really know until he has a decent QB and more talent around him. It takes more than one upstart wideout in his second NFL season to mount a sustainable passing attack. The Pats need a Pro Bowl-level vet to occupy defensive attention and provide New England's next QB with a reliable set of hands. Even Bryce Young had Adam Thielen.

Thankfully for New England, there's an openly disgruntled wideout on the opposite coast who could fit the bill perfectly.

Patriots-49ers trade centered on Brandon Aiyuk

Brandon Aiyuk enters the final year of his contract without an extension from the San Francisco 49ers. He was quite productive on his way to the Super Bowl last season, reeling in 75 catches for 1,342 yards and seven touchdowns across 16 regular season games. With the top-line speed to beat defenders over the top and the route-running chops to dominate in the intermediate range, Aiyuk averaged 17.9 yards per catch.

He's the perfect wideout to lead the Pats' new-look offense. He has the ability to operate as WR1, but he can also function as a dynamic complementary piece, as he does opposite Deebo Samuel in San Francisco. The Patriots would need to put together a compelling package, involving multiple quality picks, but Aiyuk would drastically improve the circumstances for New England's new QB.

If the Pats immediately hand the reins over to a rookie, Aiyuk can execute his routes and provide a pressure-relief valve over the middle of the field. If Brissett gets the nod, Aiyuk will have more freedom to operate. He's one of the most creative, explosive pass-catchers in the NFL. In terms of pure live-wire athleticism, few playmakers are on Aiyuk's level.

His next contract is another factor here — New England doesn't make this swap without plans to lock up Aiyuk long term — but at 26 years old, Aiyuk should have a lengthy prime window remaining. He can serve as a pillar of New England's offense.

It would be quite the culture shock for Aiyuk, going from a perennial contender with a modern, free-wheeling offense to a rebuilding team trying to drag itself out of the past. At the end of the day, however, Aiyuk is a game-changer, and the Patriots desperately need game-changers. He would certainly be appreciated in New England, and it's clear Aiyuk doesn't feel that way in San Francisco right now. This could be the move that catapults Aiyuk into the next level of stardom, if all breaks right.