Should Patriots Have Made This Trade For Former First-Round Wideout?

The New England Patriots recently kicked the tires on a pair of former first-round wide receivers with Calvin Ridley in free agency and Brandon Aiyuk via trade.

Well, another former first-round wideout was available for trade and New England was either unwilling, unable or uninterested.

The Washington Commanders traded wide receiver Jahan Dotson to division rival Philadelphia Eagles, as first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter on Thursday morning.

Philadelphia reportedly is sending a 2025 third-round pick and two seventh-round picks to Washington in exchange for Dotson and a fifth-round pick.

NESN.com's Keagan Stiefel recently mentioned Dotson as a potential target for the Patriots. Is that deal one New England should have been interested in?

It feels like a third-round pick is a steep price for Dotson, despite the fact the deal also included a swap of Day 3 picks.

The Patriots entered the offseason without a clear-cut WR1. With training camp in the rearview, New England still lacks a game-changing talent. It's also no given Dotson would be the sort of weapon that defenses have to alter their plans for. He hasn't shown that consistency in his first two seasons.

Dotson has looked like another depth receiver and the Patriots have plenty of those. He could technically improve the roster depth -- but how drastically? Would he be that much of an upgrade to New England's DeMario Douglas or Ja'Lynn Polk, two players who stood out in camp?

He also doesn't help the Patriots' most glaring need: offensive line A third-round pick is a valuable asset, and could ultimately be used as New England tries to address their lack of talent up front, now or in the future.

Dohton, the No. 16 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, has averaged 520.5 receiving yards and 42 catches in each of his first two seasons (29 games). There's a chance he plays a key role in Philadelphia's offense and benefits from the coverages he will see given he'll share the field with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.

But it would have been much more difficult to do that in New England in a far different situation.