Why the Patriots are shopping Aaron Dobson
The New England Patriots are reportedly looking for a trading partner with which to deal Aaron Dobson.
Albert Breer was the first to break the Aaron Dobson trade news on Tuesday afternoon:
The Patriots have been shopping 2013 2nd-round pick Aaron Dobson, per sources. With 128 snaps played this August, plenty of tape on the WR.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) August 30, 2016
This is just the latest instance of the Patriots wheeling and dealing this month. Bill Belichick has been his usual self, looking to maximize the value of his roster right before the regular season commences. However, the prospect of the Patriots trading Dobson has more to do with Dobson than it does with talent-maximization.
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You can look at this news several ways. First off, it looks like this is the culmination of three-plus years of Dobson disappointing in New England. The Pats had all offseason to cut him and open another spot on the final roster, but they wanted to see if Dobson could bring it in his fourth NFL season; apparently, the Patriots aren’t as keen on the Marshall product as this writer thought they were.
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Additionally, you could view this news as evidence that Keshawn Martin or Chris Harper will make take the No. 5 wide receiver job behind Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, Malcolm Mitchell and Chris Hogan. Martin logged his hours with the Pats last year doing fill-in duty for Edelman and Amendola; Harper has been holding a sign of potential ever since he stepped foot in the Patriots’ facility as an undrafted rookie last summer.
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Hopefully, if the Patriots do find a trading partner and a deal goes down, the yield is at least a fifth round pick in return for Dobson. That way, they could recoup the fifth rounder they gave up in the Barkevious Mingo trade last week. That way, they would essentially be sacrificing Dobson for Mingo. Since the Patriots are deeper at wide receiver than they are at pass rusher right now with Rob Ninkovich out, that would be a fine move.
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If Dobson does indeed leave, Patriots fans will always be left wondering “what if”… when he was selected by the Patriots in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft, hopes for the Marshall product were sky-high.
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What do you think about the prospect of Dobson getting dealt?