New England Patriots Trade for Mohamed Sanu !

The New England Patriots acquired wide receiver Mohamed Sanu via trade from the Atlanta Falcons. According to Adam Schefter, the Pats send a 2020 second-round pick to Georgia in exchange for Sanu.

It appears that Bill Belichick finally got what he wanted, as New England got an elite wide receiver. The Patriots were in desperate need to add one more target for Tom Brady and diversify his attacking options. With Sanu on the field, the reigning champs will be much more dangerous for the rivals’ defenses. Having in mind that they look superb already, we can only guess what the limit for this crew is.

The first to reveal this news was Adam Schefter, ESPN’s
NFL insider, who wrote it on his Tweeter account.

“Another trade: Falcons are sending WR Mohamed Sanu to the New England Patriots in exchange for a second-round pick, league sources tell ESPN.”

Another trade: Falcons are sending WR Mohamed Sanu to the New England Patriots in exchange for a second-round pick, league sources tell ESPN.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 22, 2019

Sanu and Julio Jones have been the primary targets of Matt Ryan in Atlanta, and these three were the core of the team which reached the Super Bowl LI. Back then, Atlanta miraculously lost the match, although having a 25-point lead. It was the biggest comeback in the NFL title game ever, and ever since, the Falcons couldn’t recover.

It appears that their management decided to turn the new leaf and that Sanu’s departure will just be the start of a big cleanup. Ryan and Jones are safe, as they have long-term deals, and it is expected that they once again present a foundation for the future of this franchise.

As for the Patriots, Belichick has been dealing with a lot of problems when it comes to the receiving core. Injuries or unexpected situations like the one with Antonio Brown have severely endangered the stability of the team’s attack. Because of all this, the champs had to react, and spending a second-round draft pick on Sanu was looking reasonable for them.

Patriots needed more offensive help, period. They had been trying to trade for Mohamed Sanu since before the 2019 draft. As Atlanta’s season continued to go south, Falcons began looking out long term while Patriots are upgrading for short term.

Sanu for a 2.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 22, 2019

New England’s players are often injured due to exhausting previous campaigns in which they regularly reached the closing stages of the playoffs. The intensity of those and all other numerous matches played, definitely influenced on veterans such as Julius Edelman, and other guys like Josh Gordon, or Phillip Dorsett. All of them were recently injured or had some minor problems with injuries.

That was supposed to be taken care of after the arrival of Antonio Brown, but the controversial player disrupted everything, and the Patriots had to look for another target all over again.

Sanu fits in all Patriots’ plans, regarding his contract length and his salary. He is set to earn $6 million this season and $6.5 in 2020 when his contract ends.

Mohamed Sanu was the 83rd overall pick of the 2012 draft and was picked by the Cincinnati Bengals. He played there for four seasons before signing a five-year $32.5 million deal with the Falcons. Up to this moment, Sanu played 110 games in the NFL, 87 as a starter. He had 377 receptions for 4,300 yards and 25 touchdowns. Sanu is known as a player who also has a soft touch for throwing the ball, and he recorded four touchdown passes throughout his career.

Just a few people knew that Belichick wanted this guy since he entered the league and that the Pats tried to trade for him days before the draft.

He will have a massive help for adjusting to the new environment in his former college teammates, Devin McCourty and Duron Harmon. Both of these defensive backs were teammates with Sanu at Rutgers.

Sanu is expected to play his first game already next week against the Cleveland Browns.