Ten Wrongs Make a Wright
The Patriots have a way of making stunning moves at the most unexpected times and this year has proven to be no different as they’ve traded All-Pro guard Logan Mankins to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for a fourth round pick in next year’s draft along with the rights to tight end Tim Wright. New England apparently asked Mankins to take a pay cut and when he refused, they made the deal. It certainly gives the Bucs a boost to their offensive line (which was looking quite dreadful) and finally shores up the tight end position in New England, where the Patriots had made no fewer than ten different transactions at that single position since August 10th.
The move could have some significant impact in dynasty leagues this season. Let’s take a look at the players whose values may have been changed based on the trade.
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Tim Wright, TE NE
Few players saw their stock plummet this off-season more than Wright. After all, Tampa Bay loaded their tight end depth chart with the likes of veteran Brandon Myers and heralded rookie Austin Seferian-Jenkins after the season ended. Wright went from a solid young prospect to a total afterthought in Tampa Bay almost overnight. He quickly lost traction with the new coaching staff in Tampa Bay as he struggled with drops in camp and just didn’t seem to fit in to the team’s plans, despite showing promise as a rookie last season. In fact, over the past six months, Wright’s ADP has dropped almost 100 spots.
That’s all in the past now.
Wright gets a much needed trade that helps out in both reality and fantasy. He emerged as a nice option last year when he posted 54 catches, 571 yards and five touchdowns, so he certainly has talent. The Patriots have been looking for a replacement for Aaron Hernandez and may have just found their new “move” tight end in the form of Wright. He is very small for a tight end (6’4″, 220) and is actually a converted wide receiver, but he showed he can make plays last year and the Pats are known for getting the most out of their players. He’ll really need to work on his blocking ability because he can’t block a chair at the moment, but New England should be able to help him improve in that area. The Patriots have long been known for their love of two tight end sets and Wright should allow them to use those more as he lines up opposite fellow tight end Rob Gronkowski.
Before you go crazy snapping up Wright, you need to take things with a grain of salt here. New England moved Mankins mostly because of his salary and their reluctance to re-sign him this off-season. Â While Wright is no “throw-in” to the deal, it’s not likely they expect something like the 79/910/7 line Hernandez posted in 2011. In fact, I’d expect Wright to post similar numbers to last year as a mid-range TE2. However, his long-term potential seems to be much better now, especially when you consider the health issues surrounding Gronkowski.
Rob Gronkowski, TE NE
I personally don’t believe this move says anything about Gronkowski’s current health status. He’s looking pretty good and should be ready right around the start of the season. However, I do think it protects New England a bit in case he gets hurt again. In other words, while this isn’t an indictment on Gronk’s current health, it could be perceived to show just a little bit of long-term worry. Regardless, Gronkowski is a top-two tight end whenever he’s in the lineup. This move doesn’t really do much of anything to his fantasy prospects. The Patriots are just being smart about protecting themselves from injury and hopefully finding a young gem in the process.
Doug Martin, RB TB
Tampa Bay’s offensive line should really be helped with the addition of Mankins. With the injury to Charles Sims and the trade for Mankins, Martin’s arrow is starting to go up again. He certainly needs to show more consistency to be viewed as a true RB1 workhorse, but he’ll have his chance to do that this season – that very chance was just given a nice little boost with the addition of Mankins.
Josh McCown, QB TB
You could easily make the case that adding a Pro Bowl guard helps out the quarterback of the team he goes to. However, I’m on record with my lack of confidence in McCown. I’m still not convinced last season wasn’t a Trestman-led fluke, but time will tell on that front.
Tom Brady, QB NE
You could also easily make the case that losing a Pro Bowl guard would hurt the quarterback he left behind. However, I’m also on record with my feeling Brady is undervalued in dynasty leagues. The Patriots wouldn’t have sent away Mankins if they didn’t feel they could still protect Brady – no amount of cost savings is worth that. I don’t see any real reason to get cute and downgrade Brady because of this. In fact, Wright could mitigate the loss of Mankins, plus some.
New England Running Backs
The running backs for the Patriots may have some tougher lanes to find without Mankins, but the problem here isn’t the offensive line as much as it is a lack of depth chart clarity. The next week should show us just how much faith New England has in Stevan Ridley as he’s rumored to be on the chopping block. After that, perhaps we’ll have a better idea of what to expect from the New England running back corps. Of course, that seems to be in flux every season.
We’re still a week or so away from the start of our leagues, but the fun is already starting!
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Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK
