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The New England Patriots will need to reload for the 2019 season. This comes after the Patriots won their sixth Super Bowl in the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era.
The Patriots always find themselves in situations where they see key contributors leave in the offseason. Although, they always find ways to replace them and make a deep playoff run.
Recently, Rob Gronkowski announced his retirement from the NFL after nine seasons with New England. That leaves a void in the offense—especially in the red zone.
New England was rumored to be one of the teams who tried to acquire Odell Beckham Jr. via trade last offseason. Beckham Jr. signed a new contract with the New York Giants—only to be traded to the Cleveland Browns this offseason.
With the team trying to acquire Beckham Jr., it shows that they believe that they need a playmaker on the offense. The NFL Draft could be where we see the Patriots find their coveted playmaker.
One receiver who the Patriots could try to select is D.K. Metcalf. Metcalf is nearly a guarantee to go before the Patriots at the 32nd overall pick.
Nonetheless, we usually don’t see New England trade up in the draft but they possibly could if they like Metcalf.
Here are three reasons why the team should trade up to select Metcalf in this year’s draft.
3. Helps the Patriots Future
Currently, the Patriots best weapon in the passing game is Julian Edelman. Edelman has been Brady’s security blanket for years now but turns 33 this summer.
There are tons of question marks surrounding Josh Gordon and whether or not he’ll play in the 2019 season. Of course, Gordon was suspended indefinitely at the end of last season.
Gordon could absolutely help this team if he was able to play but New England can’t wait around to see if he’s able to play. Thus, trading up to get Metcalf would be a decent move for the Patriots.
Metcalf would bring a huge boost to the Patriots offense immediately and for the future.
Undoubtedly, the Patriots would easily be able to maximize the potential of the gifted wideout.
2. Metcalf Would Help Replace Gronk
The retirement of Gronk seems really sad for football fans. We no longer get Gronk spikes and his kid-like humor.
The Patriots will miss his ability to create mismatches every Sunday. Trading up for Metcalf would solve a lot of the Patriots problems this offseason.
The biggest thing is that Metcalf would be a huge red zone threat for the Patriots. New England would likely want to improve on their touchdown percentage in the red zone from 2018 (62.86%).
Again, trading up will need to be the move if the Patriots hope to land Metcalf in the draft.
But trading for him would allow the Patriots to find an offensive weapon to replace part of Gronk’s production.
1. Metcalf Would Be a Deep Threat
It’s been years since New England had a legitimate deep threat receiver on their offense. The most recent guy I can think of is Randy Moss.
Moss and Brady were one of the most funs duos to watch play together. Brady would just throw it up for Moss and Moss would always find a way to come down with it.
I’m not saying Metcalf can be Moss but the Patriots could open up their offense more like they once did. In 2018, the Patriots had the 12th most passing plays go over 20 yards in the NFL.
That can be improved upon with the addition of someone as talented as Metcalf. In his three seasons at Ole Miss, Metcalf averaged 18.3 yards per reception.
Ole Miss didn’t throw the ball as much as they should have—which is why Metcalf’s stats are not jaw-dropping.
If the Patriots were to trade up for Metcalf, the AFC East will be sweating profusely.