Patriots' OT Isaiah Wynn in 'Twilight Zone', on Trading Block?
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At Tuesday's NFL trade deadline, some optimistic teams will be buyers. And those facing harsh reality will be sellers.
The San Francisco 49ers recently acquired do-it-all running back Christian McCaffrey to improve a team led by a Super Bowl-caliber defense. This week the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles bolstered their pass rush by trading for Robert Quinn.
The 5-2 Dallas Cowboys are looking for offensive line help and the 3-4 New England Patriots are obviously fed up with Isaiah Wynn.
Buyer, meet seller?
If not for a carousel at a certain position - sounds like Mac Jones is starting over Bailey Zappe Sunday at the New York Jets - the sad story of the 2022 Patriots would be the drastic demise of their once-promising left tackle.
They drafted Wynn in the first round in 2018, intent on him being their franchise left tackle. But after a mediocre season in 2021 in which started 15 games but allowed 28 pressures and six sacks, he's gone from bad to worse this season. He skipped the first week of offseason workouts, angling for a new contract despite making $10.4 million after the team picked up the fifth-year option on his rookie deal.
Moved to right tackle while Trent Brown took his job on the left side, Wynn has deteriorated into a liability. Numerous penalties (seven in six games). Multiple sacks allowed. Negative body language. He was benched in both of his two games and inactive for last Monday night’s loss to the Chicago Bears.
Against the Cleveland Browns Wynn was in for 21 drop-backs by Zappe, resulting in four pressures, a sack and a false start.
He's now buried on the depth chart behind veteran Marcus Cannon and seemingly set to spent some quality time in Bill Belichick's dog house. He'll be a free agent after the season, so gaining any sort of capital for him would be a win.
His former line coach, Dante Scarnecchia, agrees that a change of scenery might be necessary.
“I absolutely think he is savable," the long-time Patriots' assistant told WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show" on Wednesday. "But he's in the Twilight Zone right now. ... It doesn’t look like the way things are going, it’s going to go very well for him here. Wherever he ends up, whatever happens, I hope it’s in his best interest and he gets the most out of his career."
Meanwhile, the Cowboys are in line for a Super Bowl push, and could use a talented veteran tackle to back up rookie Tyler Smith and underwhelming Terence Steele until Pro Bowler Tyron Smith returns in December. Wynn has more experience than Tyler Smith and a higher ceiling than Steele.
The Cowboys brought in 40-year-old Jason Peters as a "swing" tackle, but he's been slowed by a chest injury and grumblings in Dallas are that he could be released.
We've made this connection for a "fresh-start" trade since May. And again after Smith suffered his torn hamstring in August.
Now with a deadline and the buyer-seller identities of both teams clear-cut, maybe it's a deal that finally gets done.
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