Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - What-If Wednesday: Wynn, Diggs and Odell??? Oh My!! - 2/19/2020

Episode Date: February 19, 2020

On What-If Wednesday, host Mike D’Abate gazes into the ‘Belichickian’ Crystal Ball to gauge the New England Patriots’ chances of trading for wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Odell Beckham, Jr.��He also provides his thoughts on potentially moving left tackle Isaiah Wynn to the guard position.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all of you Foxborough faithful. It's What If Wednesday here on the Locked On Patriots podcast, your daily home for news, notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. My name is Mike DeBate. I am your host of the Locked On Patriots podcast, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And because it's your team every day, that means your questions, your comments, and your

feedback. Always encouraged. Always welcome. Please feel free to follow me and reach out to me on Twitter anytime at MDABATEFPC. And while you're out there roaming the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow Lockdown Patriots as well at LO underscore Patriots. Patriots fans, we're halfway through the week. For many of you, it's a short work week this week, but it's Wednesday, and that usually

means a crossover here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. Last week during the ultimate divisional crossover, my colleagues John Buchko and Joe Marino joined me right here on the microphone to talk a little Jets football. Well, we've talked enough about our enemies. You want to talk business? Let's talk business. New England Patriots business. And even though it's the NFL offseason, the hypothetical hype train

is in full gear up here in New England. Most of that relates to Tom Brady and his status for 2020. Here on Locked On Patriots, we've discussed Tom Brady pretty much every day since the season's ended. And I could tell you that we're not even going to mention the man's name today, but you'd know I was lying. But the what-if part of this Wednesday episode actually does not include Brady as a focal point.

Now don't get me wrong, folks. Today's topics will have an impact on Brady's status for 2020. In fact, you can make the argument that two out of three of them might make it a little easier for Tom to find his way back to Foxborough and free agency. But today's what-if scenarios deal mostly with Tom's supporting cast, primarily on the offensive side of the ball. And if you recall, Steve Ballestrieri of Patsfans.com joined me yesterday here on Locked On Patriots, and we talked some hypotheticals, primarily about the tight end position. Hunter Henry, Austin Hooper, both of them are solid free agent options for the Patriots. And either one of them would definitely help the Patriots replace some of the productivity

that they had with Rob Gronkowski. But Steve and I also alluded to the fact that the Patriots did need a speedy wide receiver, someone that can get open, force yards after the catch, maybe even use that speed to take the top off the defense at times. In fact, folks, if you believe a lot of the reports out there, it's this type of receiver or this type of pass-catching threat that's most important to Tom Brady when it comes to where he'll be playing next year. But if we're being honest, this mixture of youth, speed, and skill that the

Patriots need at the wide receiver position may not be that readily available in free agency. And no, folks, before you mention Antonio Brown's name, don't. I never say never to anything in the NFL, and I'm still not saying never to Antonio Brown, but I'm saying it's 99.7% sure that he won't be the answer. But even if AB is not the answer, the Patriots still need one. So where do they go to look for it? Well, in today's What If Wednesday, we're going to gaze into that Belichickian crystal ball and turn on the trade machine.

And I think you know where I'm going with this. Especially after the reports that hit late Tuesday night that said that Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefan Diggs, yes folks, that same Stefan Tuesday night that said that Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stephon Diggs. Yes, folks, that same Stephon Diggs that the Patriots coveted back at the trade deadline in October. Well, Diggs never ended up getting traded in October. The Vikings were very much in contention for a top playoff spot. They weren't about to trade their top weapon.

But throughout the entire NFL season in 2019, we kept hearing that Stephon Diggs was not happy in Minnesota. Well, on Tuesday evening, those rumors hit another crescendo, if you will, as Diggs apparently took to social media not to send out a message, but to delete all Minnesota Vikings-related items, photos, biographies, from his social media accounts. And, as expected, and right on cue, NFL Twitter absolutely exploded. Diggs is unhappy. Minnesota's going to trade him.

Where's he going to go? And you know as well as I, folks, you're in Patriots Twitter just like I am. We started to see those GIF or GIF files. I'm still not sure how you pronounce that, folks. But anyway, pronounce it however you want to pronounce it. You know the file I'm talking about. It's the one of Bill Belichick walking out of the tunnel at Ford Field in Detroit with a purpose.

Could that purpose be to trade for Stephon Diggs? Well, seeing that today is What If Wednesday here on Locked On Patriots, I thought it might be a good idea to explore that option a little bit. But why stop with just Diggs? He's not the only prolific wide receiver that the Patriots have been linked to this offseason. And yeah, I think you know where I'm heading with this one too. Lucky 13 in Cleveland.

He'd look pretty good in a Patriots uniform, and he hasn't exactly been too shy in hiding his desire to play with Tom Brady. In fact, the last time the Patriots and the Browns played each other, this man had a gift for Tom Brady. A pair of cleats made of goat hair. No subtle hint there. That's right, folks, I'm talking about Odell Beckham Jr. His name has long been rumored to the New England Patriots,

and it popped up again earlier this week in a CBS report that suggested the Patriots trading for a guy like Beckham would improve their chances of re-signing Brady. And while I don't think anybody would deny that Tom would love to play with a unique talent like Odell Beckham, you have to wonder whether or not this scenario is even feasible for the New England Patriots. And again, folks,

What If Wednesday is a perfect opportunity to address this rumor. But let's not just make this What If wide receiver Wednesday, folks. Because last and certainly not least, our third and final What If scenario resides on the Patriots' offensive line. Because for as much fun as it is to prognosticate about who might be the Patriots' new shiny toy catching touchdowns this year, without an adequate offensive line to protect Tom Brady, or whoever might be the quarterback in 2020, it's not really going to matter much. And if Tom will still be the one this year, he needs a good left tackle to be able to protect his blind side. That job right now belongs to Isaiah Wynn.

And yes folks, I'm well aware of the concerns regarding Wynn's injury history. Injuries caused him to miss the entire season in 2018, and a good portion of it in 2019. But when he was active, he played very well. His potential impressed the Patriots so much that they decided not to bring back Trent Brown after 2018. So with all of the questions surrounding the Patriots' offensive line, such as David Andrews' long-term health, Joe Tooney's likely departure, the possibility of Marcus Cannon either retiring or being cut, the stability of Wynn's job really should be one that is

not in question for the Patriots, right? Not so fast. On Wednesday morning, the Boston Globe's Ben Volan published a piece that suggested that the Patriots might want to consider moving Wynn from the tackle position to the guard position. And Volan cited Wynn having a disappointing season in 2019 and, of course, the long-term concerns regarding his injury history. Now, despite what you might hear on Twitter, Ben knows his football, so I'm definitely

not going to dump all over him here. But I'll be honest with you. I saw that tweet, saw the report, and let's just say I respectfully disagree with him. However, I will say I think his point is a valid one. I've seen a lot of feedback to suggest that it's absolutely asinine. It's not. But again, folks, my stance is I simply don't agree with it. But what if the Patriots do decide to move Isaiah Wynn over to the guard position from

the tackle position? See what I did there, folks? That's right. That very question will provide the icing on the what-if Wednesday cake here at Locked On, Patriots. And in just a moment, folks, we'll start to play our little game of what-if. However, before I proceed with that, we at Locked On are proud to say that this episode is sponsored in part by Blue Chew.

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Just pay $5 shipping. Again, that's B-L-U-E-CHEW.COM, promo code LOCKEDON, to try it for free. Blue Chew is the better, cheaper, faster choice, and we thank them for sponsoring today's podcast. Once again, Patriots fans, it is What If Wednesday here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. And as I indicated when I opened the show today, we'll be dealing with a trifecta of questions surrounding the New England Patriots, two of them regarding potential trades, one

of them regarding a positional shift. And I'll start with the most recent and probably the hottest topic of the three right now. And that would be both the possibility and probability of the New England Patriots trading to acquire Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stephon Diggs. Now those of you that have been long-time listeners of mine here at Locked On Patriots know that I'm not a big one to buy into hype or any type of social media buzz or anything like that, but this is one time I can definitely understand the excitement. As a Patriots fan, I would love to see Stephon Diggs come to Foxborough.

He would be an amazing fit in the Patriots' offensive system. He's one of the best route runners in the game. He has a really impressive blend of speed, quickness, run-after-the-catch ability. He can go up, make contested catches. And for a guy of his size, he plays the game with a toughness to me that's rivaled by only what would be his teammate Julian Edelman. For all you out there that love you some stats stats, well Diggs delivers in that department too. Over the past three seasons, he has led all wide receivers in contested catch rate at 61.1%.

That's just above Michael Thomas, and we know what kind of a season he had this year at 59.8%. He's also become much better at collecting receiving yards. For the second straight season, he topped 1,000 receiving yards. And that's after having failed to reach that mark in his first three years, according to Pro Football Focus. Now, those are impressive statistics even on their own. But they become even more impressive when you consider he was only targeted more than 10 times just once this season.

And in that very game, Diggs made it count, folks. He caught seven passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns. Make no mistake about it, Adam Thalen is a very gifted wide receiver and one that opposing defenses respect, but Diggs is the guy that they fear in Minnesota. If he can put up those kinds of numbers with the Vikings, just imagine what he could do in New England. Catching passes in this Patriots offensive system, especially if those catches are coming off of passes from Tom Brady.

Possibilities are endless. So there you have it, folks. That sums it up. Let's get this deal done. Bill, pick up the phone. Call the Vikings. Get this man to Foxborough. Let's flood Patriots Twitter with pictures of Stefan Diggs signing a rental car agreement

at the Hertz counter at Logan Airport. We want him on that core. We need him on that core. We need him on that core. But folks, I wish I could say it was that simple. Truth be told, it isn't. There are some barriers to bringing Stefan Diggs to New England, and they're pretty big ones. First off, trading for Stefan Diggs is going to cost draft equity,

and we'll get to that in a moment. But his salary is what most people are concerned about. Diggs is entering his second year of a five-year, $78 million deal that he signed with the Minnesota Vikings. If a team like the Patriots were to trade for Stephon Diggs, they would be absorbing the remaining salaries, remaining offseason workout bonuses, and his 46-man active roster bonuses. And that information comes courtesy of my good friend, my source of all knowledge,

Miguel Benzon, a.k.a. the Pat's Cap. And if Miguel says it, you know of all knowledge, Miguel Benzon, aka the Pat's Cap. And if Miguel says it, you know it's true, folks. But that equates to approximately $45.1 million over the course of four years. Base salary in 2020 would be $10.9 million. For the next three years, from 2021 to 2023, his annual salary would be $11.4 million. Now, Miguel also advised me that there are escalators in Diggs' contract that could increase the salary over the last three years. Escalators are like incentives, folks. Which means that if Diggs performs well and he hits those escalators, it would increase his salary in the last three years of his contract, including increasing the cap hit. But here's what balances it out. If he's hitting the escalators, it means he's playing at a high

level. It's really hard for me to believe that the Patriots would let that be a significant deterrent, especially when you consider the fact that his salary is going to be cheaper than that of a free agent of the same caliber. Reason being, he's already locked up. That's a pretty big plus in the Patriots' favor, considering they're going to be active in the free agent market when it comes to bringing in a wide receiver. Truth be told, they already have a couple of young, exciting wide receivers on the roster. Nikhil Harry is obviously one of them. He was a first-round pick in 2019. And yeah, he did underachieve a little bit.

But a lot of that was because of injury. If he's healthy and has a chance to work with his quarterback, hopefully it'll be Tom Brady, then I expect a much more productive season out of him in 2020. And I think the Patriots do too. Don't forget about Jacoby Myers, folks. He may not have illuminated the scoreboards in 2019, but I watched this kid very closely in training camp. He has the stuff to be a productive wide receiver. Is he going to be a number one or a number two?

God, I hate those terms. But in any case, is he a top-flight wide receiver? No. Will he ever be? Probably not. But he's solid enough to be a productive pro. Again, it comes back to the same point that Steve Valistrieri made yesterday here on Locked On Patriots.

What they need is a speedy wide receiver, a savvy veteran, someone that can get open, run the correct routes, and be able to take the top off the defense. What would make it even better is if they had one with a reasonable contract. Again, the $45.1 million that's still owed to Stephon Diggs is not exactly cheap like a rookie contract, but the salary numbers that I mentioned earlier are numbers that the Patriots can at least try to work with. Here's another wild card in all of this. Once again, as Steve and I discussed yesterday, there's a new CBA that's likely on the horizon.

Once that's worked out, these prices may look even better. So from a financial standpoint, bringing in Stephon Diggs would be challenging, but certainly not impossible, folks. Good news so far, right? Well, here's where it gets tougher. And that's draft capital. It's almost a certainty that the Vikings are going to start any negotiation with wanting a first-round pick at minimum in return. And they really should.

After all, last year, when the Giants traded Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns, and yes, folks, we will get to Odell in a little bit, the centerpiece of that deal was the number 17 pick in the 2019 draft. Based on Diggs' salary numbers, we've already established that he's going to be a pretty attractive player that teams will want to trade for. Entering the 2020 NFL draft, the New England Patriots currently own the 23rd selection. Again, if they're looking to trade with Minnesota, that's going to be their first demand. Now, a lot of you might say, who cares?

Bill's probably just going to take a defensive back from Rutgers with that pick anyway. That's a pretty cynical way of looking at the draft. But when you're trying to convince your 42-year-old, soon-to-be 43-year-old quarterback to come back for another stretch run, one or two years at the max, you're not thinking long-term, you're thinking short-term. You want the immediate fix. Diggs would definitely provide that. But keep in mind, the Patriots have a lot more pressing needs than just bringing in a wide receiver. We've already established that they need help at tight end. I and several of my guests, including Thomas Murphy and Steve Balistrieri,

have been very vocal about the Patriots wanting to use that first-round pick to draft an offensive lineman. On the defensive side of the ball, they have a lot of needs too. Kyle Van Nooy and Jamie Collins could both exit this team via free agency. That would mean they need help at the linebacker position. Last but certainly not least, Devin McCourty could move on. If that happens, all of a sudden the Patriots have a need at safety. So would Bill Belichick want to use the number 23 pick on a wide receiver for the second year in a row? And maybe I just lost some of you, but keep in mind that the Patriots used their first

round pick last year to select Nikhil Harry. If they trade the number 23 pick, they're essentially using that first rounder to acquire Stephon Diggs. Granted, Diggs is much less of a question mark than Nikhil Harry was. Harry was at best a prospect when the Patriots drafted him. Diggs is a bona fide pro. Don't think the Patriots would be scared to utilize a draft pick to trade for a known commodity. They've done it before. They've actually done it before at the wide receiver position. Remember in 2017, they traded their first round pick, number 32 overall, to acquire Brandon Cooks from the New Orleans Saints. But this year, much more so than in the past few years,

that first round pick is much more valuable to the Patriots. Again, we've established they have a lot of needs. The Patriots front office may not be valuing the wide receiver position as much as some of the fans do. Because of their recent success, the Patriots picking in the low 20s is actually a pretty high spot for them. They may want to utilize that to snag some talent that can help them right away. And yes, folks, this next point is not something that I want to bring up, but something that we have to bring up. If the New England Patriots and Tom Brady do not come to an agreement, and Brady takes his snaps elsewhere next year, the Patriots

might not want to go a free agent route. They may go all in, package a lot of picks together, and try to trade up to draft their quarterback of the future. There's no question about it. It's not their ideal scenario. But if they have to do that, you know the team on the other end of the phone is almost certainly going to be asking for the number 23 pick in return. So if the Patriots want to go all in on Stephon Diggs and dangle that number 23 pick as the centerpiece in a package for him, they better be pretty sure that Tom Brady is returning to be the signal caller in 2020.

But even that number 23 pick alone would not be enough to pry Diggs away from the Vikings. First off, we don't know how acrimonious the relationship is between Stefan and the Minnesota Vikings. He did indicate all year long that he wasn't happy in Minnesota. And yes, the changes to his Instagram and Twitter posts did cause a little bit of a stir on Tuesday night. But we're assuming that Diggs' cryptic comments that he's made throughout 2019 and his social media preferences are indicators that there's irreconcilable differences between he and the Minnesota Vikings.

Folks, we simply don't know that. Don't forget, Diggs is a very productive wide receiver in this system. He's signed to a very manageable contract. That means that even if the Minnesota Vikings decide to trade Stefan Diggs, they can be very selective about where they're going to trade him and also what they're going to be getting back. Now, a lot of national journalists around the league are speculating that a second rounder actually, combined with some other picks, could get this done. So that's good news, right? Well, not for the Patriots. They don't have a second round pick in 2020, meaning that if they acquire Stefan Diggs, that number 23 pick has almost certainly gone to the Vikings, meaning that the earliest the

Patriots would be selecting in this draft is round three. Even if Minnesota were to send a pick back with Stefan Diggs, it would be a late rounder. They're definitely not going to send a second round or even a high third round pick unless the haul they get from the Patriots was astronomical. And that's a price, folks, that I don't believe Bill Belichick is willing to pay. Ultimately, that's why I'm a little more pessimistic than optimistic about this deal being done. Can it be done? Absolutely.

Logistically, does it make sense? The numbers can work. But the draft capital that the Patriots would need to provide and likely would be surrendering might be a little bit too much for a team with a lot of needs that free agency alone just can't fix. So while Stefan Diggs catching a lot of touchdown passes in Gillette Stadium sounds amazing, folks, in the land of what if, I consider this difficult, not impossible, but very difficult, and as a result, more unlikely than not.

As I said earlier today, folks, we're still gazing deep into the Belichickian crystal ball on What If Wednesday here on Locked On Patriots. And we talked about the Patriots' possible acquisition of wide receiver Stephon Diggs. And I colored that difficult, not impossible, and as a result, unlikely. I know I probably upset a lot of you with that, but I'm giving my honest, educated conjecture on that. I didn't say it was impossible, folks. I just said it was unlikely. Please keep that in mind if you do see Stephon Diggs wandering around Gillette Stadium within the next couple of weeks. Trust me, folks, I'd be happy to be wrong on this. But Diggs is not the only wide receiver that is currently

coveted by Patriots Nation, and I talked about him earlier. He's got great taste in cleats, folks, and that's Odell Beckham Jr. of the Cleveland Browns. Now, on the Valentine's episode of the Ultimate Divisional Crossover last Friday here on Locked On Patriots, Joe Marino, John Buchko, and myself talked about coveting players within their division. Well, Beckham's not exactly a divisional foe, but Patriots fans have been sending him Valentines for the last two years. The thought of Odell Beckham catching passes from Tom Brady has been a fantasy of Patriots fans everywhere. Judging from the fact that Beckham gave Brady a pair of goat hair cleats earlier this year probably indicates that it's a fantasy of his as well. But the quarterback that Beckham's currently working with is not exactly too shabby himself. I know a lot of people love to point out

all the flaws in Baker Mayfield, but there's a lot of upside there, folks. When Odell got traded to the Browns last offseason, this was expected to be the next great pairing of a quarterback and a wide receiver. But it didn't quite work out that way. And if we're being honest, folks, it's really more of an organizational thing rather than the players on the field. Head coach Freddie Kitchens never had control over that team. He lost his job at the end of it all. And Kitchens does deserve a lot of the blame for what went on in Cleveland, but not all of it.

The front office put together a collection of big names that just couldn't gel and play together. You also have to give some slack to the players as well. Beckham and Mayfield just never found their rhythm together. Jarvis Landry underperformed. On defense, Miles Garrett was shaping up to have an all-pro-like defensive season, but one inexcusable swing of the helmet cost him the rest of the year, and that severely hurt a Browns defensive unit that was shaping up to be one of the better defenses in the league. So at the end of the day, a team that a lot of people picked to be a Super Bowl contender didn't even make the playoffs.

But the Browns' first order in the offseason so far has been to jettison the head coach and the front office. That's been revamped. General Manager John Dorsey, out. Andrew Berry is the new general manager in Cleveland. Head Coach Freddie Kitchens, also out. Kevin Stefanski is the new head coach in Cleveland. What they've yet to do

in Cleveland is start jettisoning players, players that they believe to be problematic. Now Beckham is a very talented wide receiver. He has it within him to be a top three receiver in the NFL each and every year he puts on cleats. But he has been known to have his issues with coaching throughout the years. Could Stefanski be looking at Odell Beckham and saying, very talented, but more trouble than he's worth? If that's the case, then it is definitely worth it for the Patriots to at least give the Cleveland Browns a phone call and find out what it might take to acquire Odell Beckham. For all of the fawning that Odell has done over Tom Brady for the past couple of years,

Brady's made it clear that he wouldn't mind playing with Beckham either. He definitely sees not only the current talent, but also the potential. Like Diggs, acquiring a guy like Odell Beckham Jr. would be a clear signal to Tom Brady that the Patriots are willing to go all-in and provide him with the supporting cast that he's been wanting. Odell has a great deal of speed, not quite as good of a route runner as Diggs, but very good, but his ability to deliver yards after the catch is really where Odell shines most. He has two seasons with a pro football focus grade north of 90, and multiple seasons with 20

plus broken tackles after the catch. He might end up being one of the best players out there to take advantage of Brady's ability to deliver accurate passes underneath and create some pretty big yards after the catch. So the question beckons, what's the hold up here folks? Why not make every effort to unite Belichick, Brady, and Beckham in a trio of killer bees up here in Foxboroughborough. Well, as nice as the alliteration sounds, folks, the same barriers of bringing Stephon Diggs to New England are the same barriers in bringing Odell Beckham Jr. to New England. First, the Browns may not be so willing to part with one of the centerpieces of their offense. Granted, they have a phenomenal running back in Nick Chubb.

He's definitely one of the bright rising stars on this team. Keeping my personal feelings about Kareem Hunt out of this, he's a very effective runner. And if they continue to pair him with Chubb in the backfield, it's a pretty strong 1-2 combination. Baker Mayfield is going to need pass catchers, and Beckham is among the best in the league. If Kevin Stefanski doesn't determine that Beckham is too much of a problem for him to coach,

he's going to want to see, for at least one year anyway, what the combination of Odell Beckham Jr. and Baker Mayfield can produce on the field. Now, the caveat for the Browns' desire to make this trade could be if a team like the Patriots comes knocking on the door with a pretty big-time package of picks centered around a first-rounder. And again, the Patriots currently hold the number 23 pick in this year's draft. Again, will the Patriots forsake the first two rounds of the draft to bring in a talent like Odell Beckham Jr.? Once again, I don't believe they will. I think they'd be more likely

to bring in Diggs as opposed to Beckham, especially when you consider that Beckham's 2020 salary is going to be $14 million as opposed to $10.9. But that being said, stranger things have happened. And if the Patriots are serious about wanting to surround Tom Brady with the best possible talent in the final one to two years of his career, then again folks, going all in on Beckham may be difficult, but not impossible. Still, my analysis in this what-if game is that bringing in Odell Beckham Jr. is unlikely at best. And although the Belichickian crystal ball is about to turn dark here on this what-if

Wednesday, we still have one more question to ask it. That is regarding left tackle Isaiah Wynn. Earlier in the show, I alluded to Ben Volan's Boston Globe report on Wednesday morning that suggested that Isaiah Wynn might benefit from a move to left guard as opposed to left tackle. Now, I know a lot of you are probably thinking that Volan just did this to stir up the pot. But if you get over the initial eyebrow raising, and I'll be honest, folks, I did it too. At the first quick glance, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But when you think about it a little bit more,

it's not as out there as one might think. Again, we know Wynn's injury history. Left tackle is an important position for the Patriots. If Tom Brady is going to be your quarterback in 2020, it's the left tackle's job to protect his blind side. Brady's been very fortunate to have some of the best protection at that position in the league during his tenure. Guys like Matt Light, Nate Solder, Trent Brown.

They've all done an amazing job of keeping Tom healthy and upright, save for the 2008 season, which none of us want to think about. But Wynn looks pretty poised to be able to take over that job. In fact, the Patriots thought enough of his ability to let Trent Brown walk in free agency. They clearly had confidence that Wynn could be the guy. And when he was active, Wynn played the position very well. He did miss eight games due to turf toe, and one might make the argument that maybe he would not have as many injuries if he played the guard position as opposed to the tackle position.

Well, both of these positions are physical. If Isaiah Wynn is indeed injury prone, he's going to get injured whether he's playing guard or whether he's playing tackle. So to me, a move to the guard position doesn't necessarily protect his health. Now, to play devil's advocate, you can also say that maybe Wynn's prowess might make him a good fit in the guard position. Because in all likelihood, folks, that's where the Patriots are going to have their biggest hole on the offensive line. Joe Tooney is set to become a free agent, and he is likely to collect one monster of a contract.

So the Patriots are going to need a guard to replace him. So who better than Wynn to do it, right? Well, yeah, that would solve the guard position, but now that creates a huge void at left tackle. And just a few moments ago, we established that left tackle was probably one of the most, if not the most important position on the offensive line. And Bernd Buchmasser of Pat's Pulpit,

who's been a guest here on Locked On Patriots, made a great point in his column. If the Patriots are so worried about the hole at left guard that's about to be vacated by Tooney, why would they overpay in free agency for a potential left tackle that will likely command as much as Tooney will in the open market? They'd simply be better off paying Joe Tooney and keeping the left side of their offensive line intact.

A similar set of logic applies to the Patriots using the draft to fix the holes on the offensive line as well. If Wynn is moved over to the guard position, that would mean that the Patriots would likely have to draft a left tackle. A young player that would be coming in as a work in progress. Someone that would be immediately expected to protect Tom Brady's blind side. Someone from whom significant production would be expected right away. And oh yeah, he'd have to develop without the benefit of working with Dante Skarnecchia.

If you're hoping to bring Tom Brady back, folks, that's not the way to do it. It doesn't instill a whole lot of confidence. Throughout the second half of the season, Brady really went out of his way to praise Isaiah Wynn and the job he did with being able to protect him. Let's not forget, down the stretch, Tom Brady had a significant amount of time to throw the football. His problem wasn't necessarily getting knocked around. It was his offensive skill position players that weren't making catches or found themselves out of position. If Wynn was the problem,

Brady would have been knocked around a lot more than he was in 2019. So I won't quite go as far as to say that Ben is wrong here. I think he makes some interesting points. I'll simply say that I respectfully disagree with him. I think the Patriots' best course of action when it comes to the offensive line is to use the 23rd pick to bring in a versatile lineman and also bring in a free agent veteran guard. As much as I would love to have Joe Tooney back, the Patriots are going to have to bring in someone that won't cost nearly as much. As a result, Wynn provides Brady with the protection at left tackle that he's going to need in 2020, and a veteran could help to provide some much-needed wisdom that's going to be missed

with the departure of Joe Tooney. And with that, Patriots fans, the Belichickian crystal ball has indeed gone dark. What if Wednesday has come to a close here on the Locked On Patriots podcast? What are your thoughts on Stephon Diggs? Do you think that Odell Beckham Jr. still has a chance to come here to New England? Do you agree with Ben Volan when it comes to moving Isaiah Wynn from left tackle to left guard? I would love to hear your feedback. Please reach out to me or the Locked On Patriots account on Twitter and let us all know what you think.

As for me, I'll be back tomorrow to continue to bring you the latest news notes and analysis from Foxborough. Continue to join me each and every day here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. Subscribe and download via your preferred podcast provider. Once again, I'm Mike DeBate. I thank you so much for listening today and for staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Have a great day, everyone.