Is it time for New England to move on from Mohamed Sanu?

With a busy offseason ahead of them, it might be time for the New England Patriots to consider discarding wide receiver Mohamed Sanu.

As heartbreaking as it would be to see the second-round pick the New England Patriots gave up for the 30-year-old wideout go to waste, now might be a better time than ever to try to dispose of Mohamed Sanu.

Sanu is set to be paid $6,500,000 for his services next season per OverTheCap.com. If those services resemble anything at all what he produced in his nine games as a Patriot this past season, then that would be a huge overpay for the Pats.

With 207 receiving yards and just a single touchdown to his name in the regular season with New England, Sanu’s comparables over the last 10 years are unappealing. Over the course of the last eight games of a season, Sanu’s numbers post similar numbers to the likes of 2018 Jermaine Kearse, 2018 Trent Sherfield, 2016 Tavon Austin, and 2011 Chaz Schilens.

That’s not exactly a murderer’s row of offensive weapons in the NFL. The average cap hit of those players was $3,612,395 too, by the way. Sanu would be nearly a $3 million dollar overpay should he continue at the same pace next season.

Cap space is a necessity in 2020 for New England. With premier names like Tom Brady, Kyle Van Noy, Devin McCourty, Jamie Collins, and Joe Thuney all being players that will be looking for sizable deals this offseason, every single dollar is going to count in Foxborough this spring and summer.

Due to being traded here from Atlanta, all the guaranteed money for Sanu is on the Falcons’ books- meaning there would be no cap penalty for cutting or trading Sanu.

All this being said, I don’t know what you could get for Sanu in a trade. Fans shouldn’t expect to reacquire the second-round pick the Patriots gave up – Sanu was not worth a second-round pick in the first place – and his value has dropped since the trade.

Nevertheless, pretty much anything in return for Sanu should be considered a victory for Bill Belichick and crew at this point.

New England could also replace Sanu through the draft. USC wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., Michigan wide receiver Donovon Peoples-Jones, and Arizona State wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk could be mid-round draft picks that fit right into what the Patriots need: someone to create separation and make life easier for Brady.