Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - A Tale of Two Trades: Breaking Down the Patriots Trades of Chase Winovich, Shaq Mason — 3/15/22

Episode Date: March 16, 2022

The New England Patriots began and ended their transactional Tuesday in the same fashion…with a trade. The Pats dealt defensive end Chase Winovich to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for linebacker Mack Wilson. Later in the afternoon, the team traded offensive lineman Shaq Mason to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a fifth round draft selection. Host Mike D’Abate breaks down both trades and what each of them means to the Patriots.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

you are locked on patriots your daily new england patriots podcast part of the locked on podcast network your team every day hello to all of you foxborough faithful you are now locked into the Lockdown Patriots podcast. It is Tuesday, March 15th, the Ides of March, and free agent frenzy is rampant in the NFL right now. But folks, for your New England Patriots, it's all about a tale of two trades, and we'll break them down for you here today

on your daily home for news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. And, of course, Locked On Patriots fans, thank you so much for making Locked On Patriots your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots is free and available on all platforms, including YouTube. And speaking of YouTube, thank you very much for putting up with some of the video difficulties

that we had today, but we're still bringing you live content right here on YouTube and across all podcasting platforms. I am your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for Patriot Maven of Sports Illustrated. Please feel free to reach out to me, interact with me. Let me know what's on your mind on Twitter at MDABATENFL. While you're out there doing some Tuesday traveling through the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots.

Pats fans, it has definitely been an interesting 24 hours for your New England Patriots. Gone is JC Jackson. Gone is Ted Karras. But the New England Patriots are also maintaining some of their homegrown talent, such as Matthew Slater, Devin McCourty, James White, Nick Folk. These players are back with the New England Patriots for one more go-round, at least in 2022. A lot of the free agent retentions and maybe some external free agent signings will be covered in the subsequent days.

But as I said to open the show today, it's all about a tale of two trades. And on Tuesday morning, the Patriots were in a trading mood. Chase Winovich, no longer a member of the New England Patriots. He is headed to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a player that is expected to make the Patriots front seven a little bit younger and a little bit faster. Mack Wilson comes over from the Cleveland Browns in this trade, and folks, this is definitely a good trade for both sides. I'll be breaking this one down in just a moment of course let's not forget that the New England Patriots also made a trade in the

latter part of the day as well and that is trading all pro guard Shaq Mason to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Shaq gets to reunite with Tom Brady down in Tampa and the Patriots will be receiving a fifth round selection in its stead this was more of a cap creation than anything else folks and I will be breaking this one down in just a little bit but of course because it's a tale of two trades New England always has its eye on something greater do they have their eye on something greater this week or in the subsequent days well the jury's still out on that at the time i'm recording this podcast the other shoe has yet to drop but as michael coleone would once say there are things being negotiated that'll solve all your problems and answer all your questions

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so they know we sent you. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. rockauto.com Patriots fans, like I said to open the show today, it is a tale of two trades and Tuesday morning gave way to a pretty surprising trade. Not so much the content, but exactly what was coming back and the terms I think were

a little more surprising. And today, after all, was the Ides of March. It began with a trade for the New England Patriots as the Patriots are reportedly set to acquire linebacker Mack Wilson from the Patriots are reportedly set to acquire linebacker Mack Wilson from the Cleveland Browns in exchange for fellow linebacker Chase Winovich. That's right, Chase off to Cleveland, Mack Wilson to New England, and it was first reported by the NFL Network's Tom Palacero. It's not expected to include any additional players or commodities. So far, it looks like a straight-up player-for player for players swap and this

shouldn't come as a huge shock to a lot of Patriots fans Winovich was New England's third round selection in 2019 came in with a lot of hype a lot of expectation during his three-year tenure in Foxborough he appeared in 46 regular season and playoff games combined he'll finish his time with the Patriots having compiled 85 tackles, 10 of which came for a loss, two passes defensed, one forced fumble and 11 sacks. That includes a team high five point five sacks in 2020. So Chase came in with that high motor. He was expected to be someone that could chase down the ball and his energy, his personality. We all fell in love with

it that was what made him a fan favorite here in New England when he's at his best he brings that non-stop motor to the edge the outside linebacker that's exactly what we thought Chase Winovich was going to be here problem was he had problems seeing the field throughout his three seasons as a pro in New England Wino winovich had been hampered by various injuries as a matter of fact last year he began the season on the physically unable to perform list and he also had to stay on injured reserve due to a hamstring injury mid-season last year but he always had the intention to focus on his consistency especially when it came to funneling run plays into the middle that was something that he really had some difficulty with throughout his tenure in New England that may have been one of the reasons

why Bill Belichick lost a little bit of faith in Chase but as a result many expected him to see a lot of snaps as an off the ball defender maybe even a little bit of select issue as a package specific rusher but they didn't go exactly according to plan for chase a lot of it was due to injury but some of it was due to just him being a healthy scratch in a lot of cases he only had six solo tackles last year one quarterback hit and he had no sacks he only took 113 defensive snaps overall in 2021. he only played 161 snaps on special teams, primarily in the kicking game, but what might have been most surprising to me anyway is that Chase only played 14% of New England's defensive snaps in 2021. It's one thing to look at the numbers, folks. It's another thing

to look at the actual percentage. He played 58 of New England's defensive snaps as a rookie. I'm sorry, excuse me, in his second year in 2020. He didn't take a defensive snap for New England during their playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills. And I hate to say this, but that led many, including myself, to question whether or not Chase Winovich was going to be here long term in New England. As a result, he finds himself packing his bags and now heading to Cleveland. And with Cleveland's system, he should be able to fit in. He'll return to his natural fit as an outside presence. And I, for one, wish Chase nothing but the best. He was always affable, a great player to cover, and I think an extremely talented player that just was not a fit here in New England. And ultimately, he'll end up moving on but the good news is is that the

player coming back is a pretty good fit for New England's system Mack Wilson began his career as a fifth round selection by the Cleveland Browns in 2019 Alabama guys so definitely some synergy there with the Nick Saban Alabama Patriots connection Mack Jones already reached out to him on Twitter and said let's work buddy these buddy. These guys are ready to roll. But he played 14 games in his rookie season, and Mack really became a very prominent rookie for the Cleveland Browns. 82 total tackles, four of which came for a loss, seven passes defensed, one forced fumble, one sack, one interception. He earned a starting spot along Cleveland's defensive front in 2020, and excuse me, in 2019 when he was a rookie, but Wilson's playing time started to steadily begin to dip over the past few seasons. Went from 88% in 2019, his rookie year, most productive year,

down to 43% in 2020, and finally only 21% last year in 2021. Now, some of that was because of the rotational issues that Cleveland had. They had a log jam at the position, several players that helped, you know, kind of take Cleveland's defense to the next level, and as a result, Wilson kind of find himself on the outside looking in. There was also some time that he had on injury as well. In each of his last two seasons, he only missed three games throughout the year, but that had been due to an ongoing knee injury, which he suffered in 2020. And during the 2021 preseason, Wilson was dealing with a shoulder injury as well. So some time on the injury list over the course of the last couple of years, missing at least three games in each of those two seasons. That's something to monitor

and to keep an eye on moving forward, folks. But ultimately, this move was also made with some financial considerations as well. It's a relatively low risk for the Patriots to take on Mack Wilson's contract. For example, he carries only $77,201 in dead cat money. That makes it very easy for the Patriots to move on from him, even if the union with him doesn't quite work up to their expectation. On the other hand, if the Patriots are to go ahead and to make this move and keep it solid, they do lose at this point, they will lose at least 1.6 million dollars in cap space according to our good friend Miguel Benzon who joined me here on Friday the Patriots cap number at the time of the trade lowered to 6.8 million dollars actually 6,843,445 dollars and Wilson's

salary for the 2022 season is going to be 2.54 million guaranteed. It's excuse me, 2.54 million. That's compared to Chase Winovich's $965,000. You might be asking yourself, why is that? So the reason for it is that Winovich didn't log enough playing time to earn a raise in the final year of his rookie contract. That via the nfl's proven performance escalator on the other hand wilson did so that will give him the pay raise and a prevented chase from getting his own so it's not quite a like-for-like salary swap that comes with a little bit of a higher price tag but in my opinion a little bit of a higher ceiling because even though there's some uncertainty there's a lot of upside in bringing Mack Wilson aboard in New England.

Patriots want to get younger. They want to get faster at the linebacker position. He's clearly going to help them do that. And in New England's system, I expect Mack Wilson to project as an inside linebacker, going to play off the ball, but he'll be on the inside. And Wilson, I think, has the speed and athleticism to earn a starting position in New England. He joins Raekwon McMillan, Jelani Tavai,

Therese Hall, Cameron Groen, and potentially even Anthony Jennings, his college teammate at the University of Alabama, on the inside. And the linebackers depth chart for 2022, all of a sudden, is looking pretty interesting. I think Mack Wilson has an opportunity to make an impact on this defense, but we'll see when the season begins. It's really going to depend a lot on how he's used and how he's able to make it through training camp. So ultimately, Mack Wilson comes over. We say goodbye to Chase Winovich. I like this trade for both sides. I think Winovich gets a fresh start, which he desperately needed, And I also think that what this does for the New England Patriots in bringing Mack Wilson aboard, it helps them get younger and faster. And ultimately, that was the goal here.

But the New England Patriots were not done wheeling and dealing just yet, because if Winovich's trade was a little bit surprising folks well then the next trade that I'm about to share with you really shocked everybody Shaq Mason on his way to Tampa Bay one of the Patriots best offensive linemen going to the Buccaneers for only a fifth round draft selection in return why did the Patriots do this and what does it mean for their offense for their offensive line? I'll discuss that in just a moment. But first, I wanted to take a moment to discuss my good friends at BetOnline.net with you because as we know, it's that time of year again.

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to learn more about the trends and action. Bet online where the game starts. Pats fans, thank you once again for joining me on a tale of two trades Tuesday. And there's been a lot of buzz surrounding the Patriots' free agency or lack of moves so far. We're going to be discussing that in the subsequent days and weeks here on Locked On Patriots. But today, today's all about the trading.

And if you thought Chase Winovich's trade to Cleveland was a little bit surprising, well, then Shaq Mason's trade to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for only a fifth round selection probably raised your eyebrow a lot more. But when you look at what the New England Patriots did here, I believe that this is a precursor to a much bigger move. Again, at the time I'm recording this podcast, no other shoe has dropped. But you can definitely make the argument that the Patriots are clearing space for something big. The New England Patriots have taken a conservative approach, a quiet approach, if you will, to free agency thus far, but they made this shocking splash

on Thursday, on Tuesday afternoon. Multiple reports indicated Mike Garofalo of NFL Network, Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald were among the first to report that offensive lineman Shaq Mason was on his way to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a fifth-round draft selection, and the Patriots moving on, basically for financial reasons, really no other reason. Shaq is still playing at the top of his game. This one was a move to create cap space, folks, and Tampa loves it. They lost their starting guards. Now, of a sudden Shaq Mason comes in. He's reunited with his old teammate, Tom Brady, who unretired, as you know, over the weekend.

Murph and I talked about that a little yesterday here on the pod. Now the financials were a little bit confusing early on. Jeff Howe of The Athletic, a guy that I have the utmost respect for and also the utmost confidence in, reported that the Patriots were freeing up close to $7 million in cap space. But as you know, my good friend, the Pats cap himself, Miguel Benzon, reported that the cap clearance was actually closer to $6.3 million when you account for the approximate $825,000 in salary of the player that's going to replace Shaq on the top 51 list.

Now the Patriots are going to take on some dead money as well, but Tampa Bay is going to take on some dead money in this, including helping the Patriots free up $8.875 million in cap space coming up for 2023. So financially, Patriots made sense in making this move, but logistically, they're definitely putting themselves at a disadvantage. Look, bottom line, the moment Ted Karras reportedly agreed to a three-year, $18 million deal with the Bengals yesterday, my first thought process is Karras absolutely needs, excuse me, Mason absolutely needs to come back with Karras gone. He demonstrated

in 2021, in my opinion, why he's still one of the most effective offensive linemen in the league, definitely in the conference. He's been a run blocking force for the Patriots pretty much all of his career, but he also showed a great deal of prowess and pass protection. According to Pro Football Focus, he only let up one sack, 18 pressures. That earned him an 85.2 overall grade from PFF. So if anyone thinking that Shaq Mason had a pedestrian season, take a look at those numbers, folks. He was definitely one of the Patriots' best O-linemen all year. And he's also very well disciplined, something that is such a premium in a Bill Belichick offense or a Bill

Belichick coach team on both sides of the ball. He was only flagged for four penalties last year. He played in a possible 15 out of 17 games in 2021, making him a pretty durable lineman. So you look at all of these factors and you wonder why the Patriots felt the need to move on from him. But at the same time, they also had a clear need to clear up some cap space, and they had financial concerns that they had to take on. Ultimately, I'm a little concerned about this move simply because it creates a lot of holes on the offensive line. Two major voids at the guard position right now.

Ted Karras, you're starting left guard. He's gone. Jack Mason, you're starting right guard. He's gone. They do have Michael Luenu in place. And I've spoken very glowingly about Michael here on these airwaves several times. He's been a consistent, impressive performer. He can overwhelm defenders in the run game. He can definitely anchor to protect the pass. His size, his wingspan, it's very rare that he's going to get beat on a pass block Awenu moved around a lot last year you saw him line up as a jumbo tight end and anyone who's seen Michael Awenu knows that that term takes on a whole new meaning

when he's lining up in that formation but Awenu is a very versatile offensive lineman. He's played the tackle position. He's played the guard position. He's actually a natural right guard. That's the position that he played when he was in Michigan. So naturally, everyone's thinking that he's going to slot right into the right guard position. I'm actually with them on this. I think if the season began today, that would be where the Patriots would like to utilize Michael Luenu's prowess they would like to use him as a right guard as a starting right guard and I think he has the capability to do that but Patriots are pretty thin at some of the other positions right now at left guard you have Drew Desjardins who's coming over from the CFL you have James Ferentz who is a very good depth

piece but probably not a long-term starter what do you do at these positions if you have to use other capital to be able to fill the right tackle position because as we know Trent Brown is still a free agent he hasn't signed anywhere as of, at least at the time I'm recording this, so you're left with Justin Heron, Yasser Durant. Not instilling yourself with a lot of confidence, especially if your priority is to protect Mac Jones. The Patriots never make moves in a vacuum. I don't care what they say on terrestrial radio or, you know, what you'll read on Twitter. They have a plan in place and their plan in place is to provide mac jones with protection do they go the trade route andrew

callahan of boston herald uh floated the idea on tuesday afternoon about the patriots trying to maybe make a deal for cowboys offensive lineman lael collins now unfortunately prior to the mason trade patriots had been inquiring but the financials just didn't seem to work. The compensation wasn't adding up. Now, with Mason gone, the Patriots may have the financial wherewithal. So keep an eye on that one, folks, in the coming days and weeks. Ultimately, I think they're probably going to go offensive line in the draft. That becomes a huge priority.

And this is a deep class when it comes to guys that the Patriots could target. In my opinion, Zion Johnson coming from Boston College, local guy, at least locally college, would look great in a Patriots uniform. He could come in, play one of those positions, and you could get him at the 21st pick in the in the 2022 NFL draft coming up. Tyler Smith of Tulsa, also an option there. However, ultimately, I think the Patriots right now need to realize that their next move needs to be a strategic one, and I believe it will be. With the payout space that the Patriots have freed up, now they're going to have approximately over $13 million, according to our good friend,

the Catscap gap available in space as of tuesday evening patriots are going to have to put that to good use they do have some needs will they go out and shore up that offensive line are they clearing some cap space for a pass catcher i'd probably err more on the side of their looking to offensive line help or shoring up the defense or maybe even upgrading the running game rather than going after that big prolific wide out but there's always the chance that the Patriots may prove me wrong right now this looks like a move that may have awoken the sleeping giant in New England and if that's indeed the case things are about to get pretty interesting here in New

England and the surrounding areas in the coming days and weeks. So as I like to say, folks, keep a sharp eye on the New England Patriots. Things may have only just begun. Pats fans, thanks so much for joining me here today on this little bit of a bridged version of the Locked On Patriots podcast. And again, my deepest apologies for some of the video problems that we've had. Little bit of an issue with some of the recordings. So I do appreciate you bearing with me and being able to make sense of some of what you heard today. But ultimately, I wanted to make sure

that I got this information to you as best I possibly could. Tomorrow here on Locked On Patriots, keep it definitely sharp eye time here on Locked On Patriots because joining us on the Wednesday time slot is our good friend, the resident lady of Locked On, my good friend Claire Clossey, Claire Cooper from Pat's Propaganda and Full Press Coverage Patriots. And we'll be talking some of the Patriots' free agent moves.

We'll also be talking about a curious move that happened over the weekend and Jakob Johnson not getting the first or I should say second round tender to stay with New England. He joins the open market. Does this finally mean that Dalton Keene becomes the Patriots new fullback? Claire's been beating this drum and we will discuss that tomorrow here on the pod. So to ensure that you do not miss a single second of the action, download, subscribe to, and follow Locked On Patriots on platforms such as Spotify, the Odyssey app, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. Just make sure that you are staying locked into Locked On Patriots.

Once again, my name is Mike DeBate, and I thank all of you for continuing to make Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and your first listen every day. Until tomorrow, Foxborough faithful, stay safe, stay well, be the change that you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.