Patriots: Revisiting the Logan Mankins Trade With Buccaneers

Bill Belichick’s wizardry continued in August of 2014 when he traded Patriots OL Logan Mankins to the Bucs.

The New England Patriots are no strangers to trading away key players, and they did so in their (surprisingly) lengthy transaction dealings with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers almost six years ago.

Head coach Bill Belichick sent Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins to the Bucs in exchange for tight end Tim Wright and a fourth-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. Doesn’t sound great, right? Well, that’s the typical on-the-surface feeling when the Patriots make trades, but that was especially the case with this one.

Belichick traded “one of the greatest guards” he’s ever coached, for … a backup tight end and a mid-round pick? Settle down, folks! Billy boy had to focus on the salary cap and then utilized his scouts to make up for the loss of a six-time Pro Bowler.

While Tim Wright didn’t do a whole lot, there were concerns about Rob Gronkowski’s health coming into the 2014 season considering he’d played in just seven games the year prior. But Gronk logged an All-Pro campaign and Wright wasn’t all that bad, catching 26 passes for 259 yards and six touchdowns in 16 games.

The Pats then released Wright in June of 2015 to save some money … but not before using that fourth-round selection on Trey Flowers. And who popped into the starting left guard position to fill Mankins’ shoes? That would be rookie Shaq Mason, who has since moved to right guard in favor of Joe Thuney. Some pretty damn good tinkering, if you ask us.

As for Flowers, he played in only one game his rookie year, but proved himself in 2016 by playing in all 16 games (starting eight) and recording 45 tackles and 7 sacks. He then started 29 total games in his final two years in New England, racking up 119 tackles, 14 sacks, 45 QB hits and 5 forced fumbles. He left for Detroit after the 2018 campaign to sign a megadeal.

The best part about this is that Brady was rightfully mad. Who in the world trades a star offensive lineman for a depth player and a fourth-rounder? Come on, Tom! This was your 16th year with the team, you didn’t have a clue at this point?

Mankins played two years with the Bucs and started 31 games before retiring. Tampa didn’t make the playoffs either season, going a combined 8-24. Yeah, who do you think won this deal?