The New England Patriots let other teams compete for headlines when free agency began last week, then had the spotlight all to themselves Tuesday for their busiest day of the offseason.
To recap: The Patriots traded defensive end Chandler Jones to the Arizona Cardinals for the 61st overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and guard Jonathan Cooper, then signed defensive end Chris Long. The Patriots also gained roughly $2 million worth of salary cap relief in the transactions, since Long’s one-year deal is worth “approximately $3 million,” according to TheMMQB.com’s Peter King.
The Jones trade was smart because the Patriots acquired a second-round draft pick in 2016, when they likely would have received a third-round compensatory selection in the 2018 NFL Draft if he had left in free agency next offseason. The issue is they were losing him for a year of production in the meantime.
Signing Long lessens the hurt of losing Jones, though. Combine Long, Cooper and the production of a second-round draft pick, and the Patriots come out almost even on the day. They also essentially moved up over 30 spots in the draft by swapping third-round compensation for Jones for a second-rounder two years earlier. The cap relief also should help the Patriots extend key defenders whose contracts run out after this season, such as linebackers Dont’a Hightower and Jamie Collins, cornerbacks Malcolm Butler and Logan Ryan and defensive end Jabaal Sheard.
Long is a bit of an enigma after two injury-hampered seasons with the St. Louis Rams. A knee injury limited the 30-year-old last season, and he recorded just three sacks in 12 games. He had one sack in 2014 when he was dealing with an ankle ailment, one year after recording 8.5 sacks in 2013, his last healthy season. He had back-to-back double-digit sack seasons when he recorded 13 and 11.5 sacks in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
The Patriots have some history with Long. Their defensive line coach, Brendan Daly, coached Long from 2009 to 2011 with the Rams. Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels spent a year with Long on the Rams in 2011.
There’s only one way of finding out how much Long has left in the tank, and that’s by seeing him play this summer. He’ll likely serve as a rotational pass rusher, playing behind Sheard and Rob Ninkovich. He’ll compete with 2015 draft picks Trey Flowers and Geneo Grissom for the role.
It’s never ideal to lose a double-digit-sack pass rusher such as Jones, but the Patriots did their best to quickly build their roster back up after the trade.
Thumbnail photo via Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports Images
