Bedard: The Patriots' LT situation, from Wynn & Skipper to pieces they possess for a Trent Williams deal

FOXBOROUGH — If the season started tomorrow, there is little doubt the Patriots' left tackle situation would be challenging.

And that's probably being kind.

The projected starter, 2018 first-round pick Isaiah Wynn, has yet to take a competitive snap as we stand about three weeks shy of him being a year out from his Achilles' tear. The backup and possible opening day starter would be either Joe Thuney, who has made himself one of the league's top left guards and would be pulling a Logan Mankins, or Dan Skipper, a 6-foot-9 journeyman who has been signed or released 10 times by three different teams in his previous two seasons in the NFL.

No, none of the above is exactly Plan A when it comes to replacing the departed Trent Brown, and Nate Solder before him.

But here's the thing: whether it's Wynn, Skipper, Thuney or someone else — yes, possibly Redskins Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams — the situation is far from being as dire as some would lead you to believe.

Why? Let's go through the in-house possibilities and then get into a possible trade for Williams, in which the Patriots would likely have to trump the Houston Texans — the Krafts' favorite AFC rival — and New England has a possible leg up in that scenario.

ISAIAH WYNN

Is it great that Wynn hasn't been on the field yet during competitive drills? Nope, and even Dante Scarnecchia has lamented that over the course of the offseason.

But any sort of notion that the Patriots and Wynn are running out of time is borderline absurd. In case you haven't checked a calendar lately, the Sept. 8 season opener against the Steelers is still 39 days away.

The injury Wynn is coming back from is serious, especially if you're an offensive tackle (you try to stop 300-plus pounds from pushing against you and see how much pressure is generated in your lower legs). The Patriots are being smart and building Wynn back up slowly. He's on the field all the time during practice. That tells me that he is right on track and somewhat close to start getting into the mix (in the next week).

I'd say the ideal timetable is for him to start competitive reps after the Lions preseason game. Maybe he gets a day of reps in practices against the Titans, maybe a series in that game. But the more likely scenario is Wynn ready to fully go in the third preseason game against the Panthers, and possibly some action against the Giants. There still will be 11 days from the Giants game to the Steelers.

Even with the 39-day timeframe from the opener, don't forget that the Patriots are far from a finished product to start the season and take at least the first four games to straighten things out (like we haven't seen god-awful offensive line play and overall offensive play early in the season from the Patriots before). Week 5 against the Bills is 69 days away.

DAN SKIPPER/JOE THUNEY

Skipper has been the starting left tackle for the past two practices. Has it gone well lately? No, it has not. And I wouldn't be surprised to see Thuney going back to getting more reps at left tackle as well.

Skipper was borderline terrible in Wednesday's practice and while Brown didn't have many of those days last year, Solder certainly did, even in preseason games. That's not to say the road to Skipper being passable at any point is going to be easy. You can tell that all the varied coaching he's received to this point has really done a number on his fundamentals — for such a tall and physically gifted player (he's got really nice feet and is built like a taller Solder (tight end-like) he lunges and gets over his pads way too much — so Scarnecchia has his work cut out for him. But the potential is very much there for Skipper to be a solid stopgap at left tackle if the team needs him. Again, time is on his side. And so is Scarnecchia.

If worse comes to worst, Thuney can certainly play there if that's what is required. Fourth-round pick Hjalte Froholdt will be ready at some point (he hasn't been good either to this point) and guys like Ted Karras and James Ferentz are proven reserves. But Thuney is probably a break-glass option right now because moving him would weaken the Patriots at two positions – both on the left side of the line — instead of just one, and the Patriots would likely be reluctant to do that.

TRENT WILLIAMS

With Williams not reporting and the team signing Donald Penn to play left tackle, the Redskins will certainly entertain calls on Williams, although a league source said they are not actively in talks (that could be because Penn has never been known to keep himself in the best of shape).

Williams' unhappiness with the Redskins is equal parts contract unhappiness, and a blood feud with GM Bruce Allen over the team's handling of Williams' cancer scare last season. All signs point to him pressing this issue and if Penn looks ok, Washington will likely have to move on from Williams — but they shouldn't be in a hurry. You never know what other injuries may hit across the NFL, which would drive up the demand for Williams' services.

A few things to keep in mind about Williams: while it's great he's been voted to seven straight Pro Bowls, he really hasn't been an NFC starter since 2015 (Jason Peters' injury in '17 got Williams a starting spot). He also hasn't reached 1,000 snaps in a season (the benchmark for a starter) since '13. He's been relegated to less than 800 the past three seasons.

Williams, who just turned 31, is also due to be paid $11 million this season and $12.5 million next season in the final year of his contract. The most the Patriots ever paid Solder was $6.5 million.

If the Patriots deem themselves desperate enough to take on Williams' contract, sure, they can do it. The Marcus Cannon restructure gets them to about $9 million under the cap. Doing something with Tom Brady's contract would get them to about $14-15 million in cap space.

But there are a few things to keep in mind:

Bringing on Williams would likely end any chance of Rob Gronkowski (if the team had designs on that) rejoining the club, or the team adding another sizeable piece later on. They'd be nearly out of meaningful contracts to tweak after the Brady deal (unless they wanted to extend another aging player in Devin McCourty).

And the Texans, who have perennially been a good, healthy left tackle away from being a real contender, are even more desperate at the position than the Patriots and Houston has $40 million in cap space this year (second in the league) and $83 million next year. If the GM-less Bill O'Brien is looking to make a splash and for some job security, Williams would have to be tantalizing.

And you're also talking about two teams with tradeable player ammo. The Texans could offer up Jadeveon Clowney and his $16-million franchise tag. The Redskins have a big need at edge pass rusher and they play a 3-4, which is almost a must for Clowney. But the Redskins did draft Montez Sweat to man that spot, although he could be a work in progress.

If Washington wanted to save some money in a Williams trade, the Patriots have a few players that would address needs for it.

The Redskins have a giant hole at left guard to the point they have been forced to play failed Giants LT Ereck Flowers there, and the early reviews have not been good. Thuney would solve that problem for the Redskins. Yes, he's been valuable to the Patriots, but if the team doesn't think he'll sign a team-friendly extension at some point in this walk year for him with Froholdt in the fold, wouldn't two years of Williams be better than a possible third-round compensatory pick in the 2021 draft? Williams' salary would effectively be cut by about $2 million if Thuney went the other way in the deal (same with Shaq Mason, if that was an option — Froholdt has been getting a lot of reps at right guard).

The Redskins also could use some help at inside linebacker and safety, positions where the Patriots have a surplus. Elandon Roberts is in his final year, and Duron Harmon has two years left. Both players would net about $2 million in cap space and further reduce the impact of Williams' on this year's Patriots cap if included.

To wrap up, neither the Redskins nor the Patriots should be in any hurry to do a deal. Wynn should be given a lot more time to get right and, even if he needs some more, the Patriots have options in Skipper and Thuney, if needed.

But a potential Williams is certainly intriguing, although it's far from a no-brainer. It's not 2015 anymore, and Williams has never been all that reliable physically, especially with an $11 million price tag.

But it's still really early. The Patriots don't play a real game for another 39 days. Time is on their side.