The conventional wisdom is that Bill Belichick is smarter than everyone else, and especially when it comes to the draft and accumulating assets.
We've all heard it before ... Belichick turned this pick into these picks to acquire this player ... checkers, chess. Often, it's true. And Belichick's mind and decision-making is revered around the league. It's not just Patriots fans who are impressed with Belichick's roster management; other teams know how good he is.
But Belichick might have met his match in Ravens general manager and Taunton native Eric DeCosta.
Two of the deals Belchick has pulled off the last two years could become a decided advantage for the Ravens, one of their biggest AFC rivals and a team that finished 14-2 and beat the Patriots 37-20 last season.
Basically, the Ravens wound up with these players through deals with the Patriots:
DE Calais Campbell: five-time Pro Bowler, including the last three years
RB J.K. Dobbins: 2020 2nd-round pick
DT Justin Madubuike: 2020 3rd-round pick
LB Malik Harrison: 2020 3rd-round pick
The Patriots received in return:
DE Josh Uche: 2020 2nd-round pick
OG Jermaine Eluemunor: Inactive for six games, and the playoff game
WR Mohamed Sanu: 26 receptions in eight games last season
C Russell Bodine: Cut after one week.
How did it happen?
Well, it started with the Patriots leaving themselves short at two different positions (interior offensive line, receiver) heading into the 2019 season.
TRADE ONE
Patriots trade: 2020 4th-round pick to Baltimore
Patriots receive: OG Jermaine Eluemunor, 2020 6th-round pick
Patriots trade: Ravens 6th-round pick to Bills
Patriots receive: Bills C Russell Bodine
Desperate for backup options on the interior offensive line after David Andrews was lost for the season and realizing that 2019 fourth-round pick Hjalte Froholdt was not up to par as a rookie, the Patriots traded a fourth-round round pick to the Ravens for Eluemunor and a sixth-round pick. The Patriots quickly flipped the sixth to the Bills for Bodine (who was likely going to be released). He didn't even last a week with the Patriots before being released.
Why were the Patriots so desperate for interior line help? They hadn't developed any players beyond Ted Karras, who was signed and released a few times, and Froholdt was an almost immediate flop as a rookie.
The Ravens must have looked at this deal as found money because they were likely going to release Eluemunor, who was a fifth-round pick in 2017, but curiously he was waived two games into his second season, not claimed and signed to the practice squad. He reportedly showed up out of shape to camp this year, failed the conditioning test and never really enamored the coaching staff.
https://twitter.com/jeffzrebiec/status/1166834458806378499
Eluemunor received an original-round tender from the Patriots and is set to count $2.133 million against the cap this season. If released, the Patriots would receive that amount immediately back on the cap.
TRADE TWO
Patriots trade: 2020 2nd-round pick (55th) to Falcons
Patriots receive: WR Mohamed Sanu
Ravens trade: TE Hayden Hurst to Falcons
Ravens receive: 2020 2nd-round pick (Patriots' 55th) & 5th-round pick (Atlanta's 157)
Ravens trade: 157th pick from Hurst trade to Jaguars
Ravens receive: Jaguars DE Calais Campbell
Ravens draft RB J.K. Dobbins with Patriots' 55th overall pick
The Patriots are hoping to get a lot more out of Sanu after he was hampered by an ankle injury last season. They better hope so in order to get a decent return on this trade.
Basically, the Patriots' 55th overall pick in the Sanu trade was eventually used by the Ravens to draft RB J.K. Dobbins and helped to acquire DE Calais Campbell.
Baltimore now has a backfield around QB Lamar Jackson of Mark Ingram, Dobbins, Gus Edwards and FB Patrick Ricard. Dobbins had 2,003 rushing yards for Ohio State last year, and 4,459 in his career.
"I think with our offense we want to add as many talented guys as we can at skill positions," DeCosta said. "We're a team that likes to run the football. So, having running backs is really, really important. This was a guy that was, in my opinion, one of the very best in college football this year. He's a very talented guy with electric skills and played at a very high level in a really good conference [on] one of the best teams in college football, so we're excited to get him. He fits us, and I think he's going to be a guy that is going to be a dangerous player for us and give us the depth to do what we like to do.”
"We thought he was going to be a first-round pick. We thought he might have been the first back selected, and he might have been a guy that went 25-30, somewhere in there. ... We didn't anticipate it, but we just had to take him. He's just a talented guy, and it just made too much sense for us not to take him.”
TRADE THREE
Patriots trade: Round 3, 71st overall; Round 3, 98th overall to Ravens
Patriots receive: Round 2, 60th overall; Round 4, 129th overall (New England's Eluemunor pick) from Ravens
Patriots drafted: LB Josh Uche, 60th overall; (129 was one-third of Dalton Keene deal)
Ravens drafted: DT Justin Madubuike, Texas A&M; LB Mark Harrison, Ohio State
New England obviously thinks a lot of Uche, even though he's undersized at 6-1 and at this time doesn't appear to have a definite position, since they traded up with the Ravens to get him.
"Moved around the front a little bit. Played in the perimeter. They used him some at Mike linebacker. Used him in some sub situations," said Nick Caserio. "He's been asked to do a number of different things in a good defense. They played him at linebacker at the Senior Bowl. Has a variety of different things that it looks like he can do."
The Ravens feel good about Madubuike (6-3, 293), who is an athletic three-technique, and Harrison, who was one of the most athletic linebackers in the draft but needs some development.
"I think Justin [Madubuike] is a guy who – first and foremost – plays hard," said DeCosta. "He can rush the passer, he runs to the football, and I think he’s a guy who has tremendous upside. He is going to develop quickly with those guys in front of him, and I think it’s a great spot for him to be in. ... He’s an explosive guy – a really quick, twitchy, heavy-handed guy. One thing that really jumps out at you on the tape, and I was watching more tape today on him, is he can leverage blocks. So, he can unload."
"Malik [Harrison] is different. He’s a big guy. You don’t get a lot of big linebackers anymore in college football. He’s almost 250 pounds, he has long arms, he takes guys on really, really well, he’s really strong in the box, and he can run. He ran a 4.6 [40-yard dash]."
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Obviously the final chapter on all these moves is three years from being written because many of the parts were drafted this year.
But at this moment, the Patriots have acquired three players who have at least failed to live up to initial expectations or delivered on the capital used to acquire them (Eluemunor, Sanu, Bodine — obviously still hope for Sanu to pay off in his second season). We'll see on Uche, who will at least be a role player this year but could become an important front seven player in short order if history is any judge.
The Ravens, meanwhile, a starting defensive end (Campbell), a backup running back and future starter (Dobbins), a potential starter at weakside linebacker (Harrison), and a sub interior pass rusher as a rookie (Madubuike).
If the Ravens have another strong season and if their drafted depth players have an impact when injuries hit, we could look back at these deals as a crossroads for the Patriots and Ravens — through deals with each other.