Willie McGinest Shares His ‘Dream Trade’ For Patriots Ahead Of Deadline

At this rate, it’s tough to imagine the New England Patriots will be buyers at the NFL trade deadline.

But if Willie McGinest had it his way, his former team would swing for the fences Tuesday.

McGinest on Monday was among a panel of NFL Network analysts tasked with identifying their “dream trade” leading up to the deadline. The ex-linebacker focused on a top-tier player whose name has been floated in rumors in recent weeks.

“…How about Michael Thomas from the New Orleans Saints goes to New England?” McGinest said on “NFL Total Access.” “You know about these big types of trades they’ve had. Reggie Wayne went there. Remember Chad Johnson? Remember a guy by the name of Corey Dillon? Randy Moss?

“OK, when there’s smoke, there’s fire. He was benched Week 5, has not played in the last couple weeks. From what I’m hearing, he’s not a great teammate, he hasn’t been great in the locker room, he hasn’t been getting along. Why is he not on the football field? Now, if the Saints can get what they want — I’m just throwing this out there. I’m not even going to say a first-round (pick). Maybe a two and a three and somebody takes on that contract, can we move one of the big-time receivers in the league, one of the best in the last five years to New England and make it work?”

If the Patriots had legitimate Super Bowl aspirations this season, perhaps a deal for Thomas is something they’d kick the tires on. The three-time Pro Bowl selection has a base salary of $1 million this season before the more lucrative years of his recent extension kick in. But considering all they likely would have to give up for Thomas, a move of this magnitude doesn’t make a ton of sense of the 2-5 Patriots, who appear bound for a rebuild.

Not to mention, the Saints might not even be listening to offers for the 27-year-old. New Orleans head coach Sean Payton on more than one occasion has scoffed at Thomas trade rumors and NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport on Sunday reported the team isn’t open to dealing Drew Brees’ favorite target.