New England Patriots: Grading the Danny Shelton trade
By Nick Ziegler
The New England Patriots were able to strengthen their front seven recently with the acquisition of Danny Shelton from the Cleveland Browns.
In recent days, the Cleveland Browns have significantly changed their roster, and the New England Patriots were one of the teams to trade with them.
Coming into the offseason, one of the big needs for the Patriots was to strengthen their front seven. This season, the Patriots’ run defense was nowhere near the level that we saw in 2016, and that ended up hurting the team.
With free agency nearly here, the Patriots decided to strengthen their front seven with the acquisition of defensive tackle Danny Shelton from the Browns. Shelton was a former first-round pick of the Browns and is coming off a strong season on a bad Browns team.
According to Pro Football Focus, Shelton was ranked as the 35th best interior defender in the NFL last season. Considering that the Patriots only gave up a 2019 third round pick, getting a player the caliber of Shelton will certainly help.
While Shelton won’t provide the Patriots with much a pass rusher, he is a massive man that is very strong against the run. Against the run, PFF graded Shelton as the 19th best interior run defender in the NFL.
Shelton will fill in nicely for the Patriots on early downs, as he should be a good replacement for Alan Branch. Another positive about the addition of Shelton is that he is still on his rookie contract. In 2018, Shelton will be making just over $2 million. With some needs still on the team, getting a quality player like Shelton for so cheap is good.
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In addition to getting Shelton, the Patriots also added a fifth-round pick this year in the trade, giving them seven overall selections. While there is still some work to do on the defensive side of the ball, getting Shelton is certainly a good start. Most of the time when the Patriots make a deal like this, it turns out to be good for the team. This trade looks to be the same on paper.