Report: Joe Thuney, Patriots Aren't Close to Contract Extension
One of the more surprising moves of the 2020 offseason for the New England Patriots was them deciding to franchise tag starting left guard Joe Thuney. Thuney was at the top of the list in terms of players that were presumably going to walk in free agency this year and get a big payday. But the Patriots prevented that from happening by tagging him, which keeps in New England on a one-year, $14.78 million deal.
The team released a statement saying they tagged Thuney will the intention of signing him to a long-term extension. However, it's been over a month now since they tagged him, and a report that surfaced over the weekend suggests the All-Pro guard and the Patriots are not close to coming to terms on an extension.
Here is what ESPN's Mike Reiss said on Sunday in regards to Thuney potentially being a trade piece this week when the NFL Draft is underway.
With the Patriots tight against the salary cap (about $1 million in space), and having surprisingly assigned the franchise tag to starting left guard Joe Thuney at the top-of-the-market figure of $14.78 million, Thuney's future with the franchise bears watching during the draft. If a guard-needy team is willing to deal a second- or high third-rounder to help fill in the Patriots' draft board, that would have to be something Belichick seriously considers with the knowledge that the sides haven't been close to an extension. Thuney holds notable leverage because of the high franchise-tag figure.
While filling in New England's draft board could absolutely be a reason Thuney is shipped away on draft day, there may also be one other reason he gets traded, and that involves the six-time Super Bowl champions moving up in the draft.
The idea of the Patriots moving up in the draft in order to get a quarterback this year is something that has been discussed here on PatriotMaven. The quarterback that has been brought up in that scenario is Tua Tagovailoa, as he could potentially start falling down the board because of his checkered history with injuries. Alabama's star QB would be a perfect successor to Tom Brady for a couple reasons; Tagovailoa was coached by Bill Belichick's good friend, Nick Saban. On top of that, at one point Tagovailoa was considered the No. 1/1A quarterback in this year's draft, so if New England was able to trade up into the middle of the round to draft him it would be an immense value, even if it meant giving up someone like Thuney, and/or draft capital.
It is very uncharacteristic of Belichick to do something like trading up in the first round to acquire a player. He has a history of doing the complete opposite, which involves trading back to acquire more draft picks. However, the Patriots are in uncharted territory this offseason - because their Hall of Fame quarterback is gone - which could cause Belichick to do something a bit different. If that's the case, then we could see New England shock the world by trading up on Day 1 of the 2020 NFL Draft to grab one of this year's top QB prospects.
