<\/p>\n
There had been talks recently about teams inquiring about quarterback Joe Milton, and the Patriots ended up pulling the trigger on a deal for the former sixth-round pick on Thursday.<\/p>\n
According to ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter, the Patriots have agreed to terms on a trade with the Dallas Cowboys for Milton.\u00a0 Schefter reports that the deal includes Milton and a 7th-round selection, in exchange for the Cowboys\u2019 5th-round compensatory pick.<\/p>\n
That feels like a curious return for a player with a lot of upside.\u00a0 Given the apparent demand, the Patriots seemingly shouldn\u2019t have had to give up a draft pick at all and one would have thought that the deal should have been for more.\u00a0 Milton was still under contract for three more seasons, and the Patriots certainly could have \u2013 and should have \u2013 been fine with having two solid players in their QB room.\u00a0 However, some additional details have shed a bit more light on the deal.<\/p>\n
Both Mark Daniels and Karen Guregian reported this week that Milton reportedly wanted out of New England, expressing a desire to have an opportunity to compete for a starting role.\u00a0 With both Drake Maye and Josh Dobbs in the fold, the likelihood of Milton becoming the starter here in New England was low.\u00a0 At best, he would have been in a competition to be the backup, so a trade seemed to be the best option, provided it was in the team\u2019s best interest.<\/p>\n
However, what\u2019s interesting is the compensation.\u00a0 Reports have said that the Patriots had better offers, but that the club made the move to try and do right by a player who, by all accounts, has done everything he\u2019s been asked to do.<\/p>\n
Vrabel actually talked about Milton this week, praising Milton\u2019s work ethic while sounding like a trade was certainly possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I think Joe did everything that they asked him to do last year,\u201d said Vrabel.\u00a0 \u201cIt sounds like in conversations that he worked extremely hard and that\u2019s tough when you\u2019re a quarterback. Everybody wants to play, everybody wants to be the starter, and that\u2019s great to have that attitude. He was ready for his opportunity there late in the season, which I commend him on, just like I would any player that sat there and went through a long season, a difficult season, and then got the opportunity, went out, won a football game, played well, helped his team win.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where that leads to, we\u2019ll see as the draft approaches or where Joe is on April seventh to start our offseason program. But you have to give Joe credit for being ready to go, going from the third quarterback to being able to win that football game and stay ready and stay hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike Reiss of ESPN also reported that the timing sort of reveals that this also might have had to do with the dynamics in the quarterback room.\u00a0 It sounds like removing Milton from the mix might have eliminated a squeaky wheel in a room that now has both Maye and newly signed veteran Josh Dobbs.<\/p>\n
Needless to say, it sounds like Milton might have been reaching a point where his frustration could have been spilling over, and the team instead tried to make an addition by subtraction.\u00a0 The only downside is that given that they invested a sixth round pick, the combination of losing a 7th and gaining a 5th doesn\u2019t exactly put them ahead of things.\u00a0 Especially given the investment they made from both a time and financial standpoint.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, it sounds like there definitely were some teams interested, although it\u2019s not known what the other offers were.\u00a0 Fox Sports\u2019 Jordan Schultz reported that other teams who were in the mix with Dallas were the Raiders, Eagles, Giants, and Steelers.<\/p>\n
For now, the Patriots have another chip to use in the coming weeks as the Draft edges closer.\u00a0 It\u2019s just unfortunate that given the demand, the compensation wasn\u2019t a little better.<\/p>\n
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There had been talks recently about teams inquiring about quarterback Joe Milton, and the Patriots ended up pulling the trigger on a deal for the former sixth-round pick on Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-england-patriots"],"yoast_head":"\n