The final week of the preseason proved to be a very active one for the New England Patriots.
The Patriots executed not one, but two trades in the days leading up to their preseason finale against the New York Giants. New England first swapped Sony Michel for a pair of draft picks in a deal with the Los Angeles Rams and then gave the Baltimore Ravens two future picks in exchange for Shaun Wade.
Peter King, as he explained in his latest Football Morning in America column for NBC Sports, believes Bill Belichick and Co. did well for themselves with both trades.
“With Damien Harris and James White the two most important backs on the roster, and with a corner need that might become major if Stephon Gilmore’s contract stays problematic, the Patriots get a promising 6-foot-1 fifth-round corner in Wade,” King wrote. “Look at it this way: The Patriots probably would have made the Michel-for-Wade trade straight up, and now, in trading a fifth and a seventh to Baltimore for Wade, and acquiring a fourth and a sixth from the Rams for Michel, New England moves up maybe 30 slots with two future picks.”
Of course, neither of those deals were gamechangers. But the Patriots needed to address both their cornerback and running back situations, and New England’s front office checked off both boxes in a very efficient manner.
