Getty Korey Cunningham started six games for the Arizona Cardinals last year.
The New England Patriots added some depth on the offensive line in a pair of late preseason trades on Wednesday. New England sent a sixth-round pick to Arizona for swing tackle Korey Cunningham then shortly after acquired Jermaine Eluemunor from the Ravens, pending a physical.
Cardinals OL Korey Cunningham announced on Instagram that he was traded to the New England Patriots.
Cunningham announced the deal on his Instagram, which has since been deleted. The offensive tackle was selected in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Cardinals and appeared in six games last season.
Cunningham took four holding penalties in those six games, a trend that has plagued New England’s offensive line this preseason. He started all six of those games before being placed on injured reserve after a foot injury suffered in Week 16.
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The 6-foot-6, 305-pound left tackle entered the NFL after appearing in 33 games for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats.
His acquisition comes just days before final roster cuts were slated. With rookie tackle Yodny Cajuste likely to miss a chunk of the season and starting left tackle Isaiah Wynn just returning from an Achilles injury, Cunningham provides insurance at the tackle position.
This spells trouble for Dan Skipper who saw much of the first-team snaps at left tackle before Isaiah Wynn returned. And there’s Martez Ivey, an undrafted free agent out of Florida, who missed the Patriots’ third preseason game for an undisclosed reason.
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As for Eluemunor, he failed his physical at the start of training camp which ultimately cost him a chance as the starting left guard for the Ravens. He has started at various positions on the line, however, featuring at both guard positions and even left tackle.
Cunningham’s Preseason
The swing tackle played for the Cardinals on Saturday at Minnesota and was on the field for 52 percent of the offensive snaps, third-most on the team. He also saw three snaps on special teams.
A week prior against the Raiders, Cunningham saw half the team’s offensive snaps following a team-high 62 percent of snaps in the Cardinals preseason opener against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Cunningham was battling with D.J. Humphries and Marcus Gilbert for the starting job at offensive tackle and, despite a high snap count in the preseason, was unable to earn the primary role. That leaves Rees Odhiambo as the top options at swing tackle for the Cardinals.
Patriots Depth Chart
Cunningham will likely be the Patriots backup option at offensive tackle, sliding ahead of Skipper and Tyree St. Louis on the roster. It was a position of need for New England, which experienced good fortune as a whole on the offensive line last year.
But with David Andrews down for what could be the entire season, the Patriots are looking to bolster the offensive line both interior and at the outside tackle positions.
Eluemunor provides depth in the middle for New England, especially with guard Ted Karras expected to move over to center for Andrews. Rookie Hjalte Froholdt continues to develop but has a long way to go before elevating to a starting role. Eluemunor gives the Patriots time to develop Froholdt more while adding a starting-caliber lineman to the mix.
New England was originally thought to be trading for Trent Williams from the Redskins, but those reports were silenced earlier in the preseason and the offer New England presented wasn’t adequate enough for Washington to accept.
Cunningham provides the perfect low-risk backup option. He has experience starting in the NFL and although he was taken in the lower rounds of the draft, New England has been a place for low draft picks on o-line to succeed. And most of all, the Patriots gave up only a sixth-round pick.
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