Patriots Urged to Trade Recent Free-Agent Signing

Getty Ted Karras

The New England Patriots just signed Ted Karras this offseason, bringing him back to New England after he spent a season playing for the Miami Dolphins.

Karras has been a steadying force on the interior of the offensive line while the unit has dealt with injuries to its guards and tackles. Still, Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberger suggests the team deal Karras to the Cincinnati Bengals for a late-round draft pick.

Patriots and Bengals Linked in Hypothetical Ted Karras Trade

According to Spielberger, the following deal would be beneficial for the Patriots to explore with the Bengals:

“Hypothetical Trade: Ted Karras → Cincinnati Bengals for a 2022 seventh-round pick Dead money: $1,000,000 Cap savings: $833,333 Contract with acquiring team: One year, $833,333”

Why would a deal that is seemingly so small from a return and savings standpoint be a good idea for the Patriots to pull off? This was Spielberger’s explanation:

Karras ending up in New England this season after a stint with the Miami Dolphins was a strange circumstance, with New England Patriots incumbent starting center David Andrews also being a free agent. The belief in league circles was that one of Andrews or Karras would sign with the Miami Dolphins and Brian Flores. Instead, both landed in New England. Although it comes on a small sample size, Karras has the eighth-best pass-blocking grade among interior offensive linemen through Week 5 — an 81.3 grade on 57 pass-blocking snaps — after splitting time at left and right guard. Frankly, Karras is too good to not be starting somewhere.

Hmm, the part about the Patriots assuming they would lose either Andrews or Karras this past offseason seems spot-on. Spielberger is right, this was widely believed during the offseason. However, saying the Patriots should trade Karras for a seventh-round pick and a savings of $800K simply because he’s “too good to not be starting somewhere” doesn’t sound like enough motivation for Bill Belichick to make this move. Furthermore, I’m not even sure it’s a move the Patriots can afford to make.

Can the Patriots Afford to Trade Ted Karras?

The Patriots’ offensive line has already been hammered with injuries. Tackle Trent Brown has missed five games since injuring his calf in Week 1. Yodny Cajuste was benched for poor play in the Week 6 loss to the Cowboys, but he’s also missed two games this season.

Mike Onwenu missed a game this season, as did Isaiah Wynn. Guard Shaq Mason missed two games too. One of the things that made Joe Thuney, now with the Kansas City Chiefs, so valuable to the Patriots was his ability to play just about any position on the offensive line at a high level. While not quite as good as Thuney overall, Karras offers a similar level of versatility. With the Patriots experiencing so many injuries on the offensive line, that’s a quality the team cannot afford to trade–especially not for a late-round pick.

If New England believes they don’t have a shot at the postseason after the Week 7 meeting with the New York Jets, perhaps the Patriots go all-in on rebuilding and ship Karras off to a team that feels it has a chance to contend.

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