Subscribe
Follow Us
The Washington Commanders have been urged to be aggressive in the draft. As for the Patriots, there seems to be a wide range of outcomes. Those two things could meet in the middle, as an NFL insider suggested an aggressive trade between the Commanders and Patriots.
This doesn’t have anything to do with the first round. The Commanders at No. 29 are too far away from the Patriots' No. 4 pick to move up. But they are much closer with the Patriots’ Round 2 pick at No. 38. Here’s what the ESPN braintrust suggested for these teams.
“The Washington Commanders trade Nos. 29 and 128 to the New England Patriots for Nos. 38 and 77,” Field Yates wrote. “A theme of this Patriots offseason has been aggressiveness, as they spent huge in free agency to address several needs. That could continue into the draft, especially if they can fill a critical need with a player late in Round 1.”
Would Commanders GM Adam Peters be willing to move back?
This trade is baited well. The Commanders would move back nine spots, but move up 51 spots and into the third round — where they currently don’t have a pick.
It’s likely the Commanders, with only five picks overall, would test the Patriots’ resolve and also try to swap their seventh-round pick (245) for the Patriots’ last fifth-round pick (171).
But as it stands, the Commanders would likely have a shot to draft TreVeyon Henderson (Ohio St.) at No. 38. If he’s not there, they could select underrated receiver Jayden Higgins of Iowa State.
With the No. 77 pick, they could likely choose between Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison or Arizona interior offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea. Edge rusher Nic Scourton could still be on the board, too. In any case, they fill a big need with a promising young player that they otherwise would not have had a shot at getting.
What they would pass up is a premier cornerback in Maxwell Hairston (Kentucky), Trey Amos (Mississippi), or Azareye’h Thomas (Florida State). They also wouldn’t get edge rusher James Pearce Jr. (Tennessee) or Donovan Ezeiruaka (Boston College). Also, interior lineman Grey Zabel (North Dakota State) goes somewhere else.
With any of those six guys, they just get one. But Henderson combined with Morrison is better than just Hairston, and so forth.
As for the Patriots, assuming they landed Armand Membou or Will Campbell for their offensive line at pick No. 4, they could use the second first-round pick to get a playmaking wide receiver like Emeka Egbuka, whose projections range from mid-first round to mid-second round.
