The Patriots have acquired Falcons receiver Mohamed Sanu for a second-round pick, a league source confirmed.
Sanu, 30, was originally a third-round pick of the Bengals in 2012 out of Rutgers. He's never caught more than 67 passes in a season (2017) and set a career yardage mark of 838 last season. He's never had more than five touchdowns in a pass-happy offense. He's a big (6-2, 215-pound) target with decent enough speed (4.67 out of college).
A second for Sanu seems slightly steep. I wonder if the Falcons converted any of the $3,529,412 owed him to a bonus in exchange for a bump in trade compensation.
He's under contract next season for $6.5 million. Of course, the Patriots are free to release him without any cap ramifications if they so choose.
BSJ Analysis
A couple of slightly coherent thoughts as I have yet to sleep (thanks Bill) and will be on with Felger & Mazz from 2-4 p.m. today.
Patriots receiver depth chart now
X BOUNDARY
Josh Gordon
Phillip Dorsett
N'Keal Harry (IR)
Mohamed Sanu
Z SLOT
Julian Edelman
Jakobi Meyers
Gunner Olszewski
Z THIRD WR
Mohamed Sanu
Phillip Dorsett
Jakobi Meyers
- Let's call a spade a spade: this is an overpay for an average receiver with a comparatively high salary ($6-million base). If the Patriots got a cap break, I could understand it better. They are not getting much of a comp pick in 2022 if he signs elsewhere in 2021. He'll be 32.
- If the Falcons didn't pay Sanu a bonus, this tells me the Patriots thought they were likely out of options on other possible targets, like Emmanuel Sanders or someone like that. Or they weren't going to go very far financially with anyone else. Sanu represented the best the Patriots thought they were going to get and if they had to overpay ... well, beggars can't be choosers and the Patriots always have a bundle of picks in any event. It's about the now.
- This move might also mean that the Patriots think they will be without Josh Gordon for some time, and/or they felt they needed an experienced backup to Gordon in case the worst happens again. The Patriots could not, if Gordon is out, have Meyers and, especially, Olszewski one injury away from playing a lot of snaps.
- The Patriots needed another experienced and viable target for Brady, and Sanu just might have been the only reasonable option where the Patriots are shopping. Edelman is aging and beat up. Gordon is hurt and unreliable. Dorsett is a 3 or 4 on most teams. Harry is a rookie facing an uphill climb. The Patriots desperately needed a veteran receiver purely for depth reasons.
- Sanu was a big slot with the Falcons, but the Patriots want shifty players there, and he can really play anywhere. It's fun to think about the Patriots, possibly, lining up in the red zone with Gordon (6-3), Harry (6-2), Sanu (6-2) and Edelman (5-10).
