Patriots Struck Gold From San Francisco

Last year the Patriots traded their first round pick, the 28th, to the San Francisco 49ers.  In exchange the Patriots got a 4th round pick for last years draft and San Francisco’s first round pick this year.  Basically what that translates to is Randy Moss, and the number 7 pick this year for Joe Staley, the 49ers right tackle who started all 16 games this season.

Basically the Patriots struck gold with this deal.  They obtained a record setting pro bowler for with that 4th round pick, certainly much more production than they would have gotten by picking any body at the 28th spot, and they managed to get a top ten pick in this year’s draft.  In a way this makes the stripping of their own first round pick irrelevant.

Historically the Patriots don’t pick that high in the draft but they have managed to draft really well and have a good mix of home players and free agents.  If they don’t find a fit at the number seven pick they could swing that pick for picks and extend the life of the original trade.  A number seven pick certainly has more value than a number 28 and they could potentially even get two first round picks from a team that is desperate to move up.  That may be dramatic but it has been done in the past.  Currently Dallas is the only team with two first round picks so it seems that a trade between the top seed from each conference would be unlikely.

Overall, this has to be one of the best trades in NFL history.  Certainly it was only a trade for draft picks which makes it impossible to evaluate what impact the trade will have until after it is done, which is how this differs greatly from trades in Major League Baseball where players are exchanged, but the Patriots then traded a draft pick for a proven player.  Randy Moss alone would have made this a great deal, but the Patriots will be adding more come draft time.  From the looks of things, the Patriots have no reason not to continue being one of the games best teams for a long time to come.