Bill Belichick and the Patriots have a long list of bombshell trades over the past 16 years and today’s reported trade of Jamie Collins to the Cleveland Browns for a third round pick is right up there with the 2009 Richard Seymour trade to Oakland and the 2010 mid-season Randy Moss trade to Minnesota.
Blockbuster deal: Patriots traded LB Jamie Collins to Cleveland for a compensatory third-round pick, sources tell ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 31, 2016
Update:
Yup, so it's likely a 2017 third-rounder if the Browns get a comp pick, 2018 fourth-round pick if not. https://t.co/UEQt7YLypJ
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) October 31, 2016
Collins was a rotational linebacker on Sunday against the Bills, playing in passing situations. He was just taken off the injury report on Friday so initially I assumed he was still just being managed. But apparently there was something more going on behind the scenes. Collins has certainly been up and down this season, but never did I suspect the Patriots would trade him mid-season like this.
I don’t want to speculate, but the lower value of a third round pick (likely high in the third round, not much lower than Chandler Jones’ price) indicates the Patriots weren’t just thinking they couldn’t re-sign Collins, they didn’t really want him or think they needed him anymore. The speculation in the coming hours and days will be fascinating, because unlike Seymour and Moss, there’s no easy assumption why the Patriots would move on from a player many thought was one of the best linebackers in the league.
It’s safe to say though that Belichick must be unhappy with the defense. The message is clear. Yes, they’ve made incremental process each week recently, but that doesn’t look like it’s good enough for BB. My first instinct is that this goes toward the old Scott Pioli quote — “we’re building a team, not collecting talent.” Jamie Collins is the kind of talent anyone wants to collect, but how this plays out in building a team will be seen over the next three-plus months.
We’ve known that 2017 would be a reset year on defense with so many free agents and with the trades of Chandler Jones and now Collins, they’ve jettisoned more key players than they’ve extended.
Mike Lombardi’s take:
Collins on the second play of the game does whatever he wants and Bills gain 28 yards. Been happening all year. It was not going to continue
— michael lombardi (@mlombardifoxtv) October 31, 2016
This now means that Elandon Roberts will be thrust into an even more prominent role, while Kyle Van Noy could find himself playing quite a bit after the bye week. And there’s even more pressure on Dont’a Hightower to not only stay healthy, but for the Patriots to re-sign him.
Another jaw-dropper in a long list of jaw droppers, and maybe the most jaw droppiest. Going to take a while to process it, and with the bye week there’ll be even more time to speculate just what the hell is going on. Now you wonder if Collins disappears into the mess that is Cleveland, perhaps never to attain the elite linebacker level most had him pencilled into already.
Or does he hit free agency this offseason and join up with a team where he could come back to haunt the Pats? That’s a frightening Halloween thought.
Some tweets coming out that put things in a bit of context…
With Jamie Collins contract coming up, he was at one point asking for what one league source described as “Von Miller money.” Von: 6-$114.5M
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 31, 2016
