On Friday the San Francisco 49ers jumped into the third spot in the 2021 NFL Draft with a blockbuster trade that benefited the Cincinnati Bengals. The trade will make it very hard for the New England Patriots to get a quarterback in the draft.
New England will have to trade up to the fourth or fifth spot in front of Cincinnati to draft one of the top quarterbacks in the draft. Jeff Howe of The Athletic in Boston laid hints In his latest article saying that the Patriots are talking to the Atlanta Falcons and the Bengals.
Howe is a well-known source in Massachusetts that gives cause to believe that a Patriots trade could happen. The trade rumors with Atlanta and Cincinnati have just started so any activity won’t be full-blown until the offers look good.
What this does for the Cincinnati Bengals
Obviously, the first thing this does is remove Cincinnati out of the running for Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell, LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, and Florida tight end Kyle Pitts. With the 49ers move, it assured them two of the three if not all these prospects.
The 49ers-Dolphins trade really complicates the Patriots' quest for a QB. If they planned to go the draft route, it just became much more difficult. I explain that and the other ramifications here.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) March 26, 2021
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If a trade with New England happens, Cincinnati would have the 15th pick. There will still be plenty of options to draft an offensive lineman. At 15, that pick will most likely be an OT like Christian Darrisaw from Virginia Tech. If the Bengals accept a huge haul of picks this can secure the Bengals future for a very long time.
Before venturing into what it will cost the Patriots to make a trade with the Bengals let’s confirm what will most likely happen with the Falcons. Atlanta might want a quarterback to succeed Matt Ryan. It will cost almost everything for the Patriots to trade with them. So they should be out.
The Bengals not needing to draft a QB makes them the most fitting team to trade with. Mac Jones quarterback from Alabama is the fifth quarterback on the board and the Patriots don’t want to take chances on the Carolina Panthers or Denver Broncos moving up past them.
Bengals should only accept a farm load of picks
There are two ways the Patriots can do a trade. New England has 10 picks in the 2021 NFL draft. The Patriots also have a couple of players who could entice the Bengals. At the least, this is what Cincinnati would be looking at in a solid proposed trade.
Patriots receive:
- Bengals Fifth pick
Bengals receive:
- Two first-round picks
- Two second-round picks
- Two third-round picks
- Two of the three 4th round picks this year
The Patriots could reduce the lot by adding a player that they been adding to the trade block N’Keal Harry was the New England first-round pick at WR in 2019. Harry has not reached his true potential. Harry would be a WR on a rookie deal that Cincinnati can use.
Conclusion
A trade between the Bengals and Patriots has barely been put into motion. Any trade between Cincinnati and New England could happen in the next couple of days but the Patriots need to move quickly. Will New England offer enough to set the Cincinnati future at ease?