The New England Patriots are no outsiders to draft-day trades in the Bill Belichick era. This season, the Patriots may be looking to trade away a player that has been a significant part of their running game since being drafted in the third round in in the year 2011: RB Stevan Ridley.
There are some reasons why the Patriots could look to move Ridley during the draft. The 1st is related to ball security problems. As anybody who has followed Ridley’s career with the Patriots surely knows by now, he has had a major problem with fumbles. Since entering the league in 2011, he has fumbled the football 9 times, losing six of them. The team responded to these difficulties by demoting Ridley to third-string running back at the latter part of the 2013 season.
Given the point that the Patriots preach ball security together with all of their running backs and also offensive players in most cases, the likelihood that they would extend Ridley long-term once he can cough the football up at any minute seems improbable. He is talented, however in today’s NFL, the running back position is deemphasized. You can typically find running backs with an identical skillset to Ridley who is able to actually hold on to the football.
Another one of the reasons why the draft would be the best time for all to transfer him is really because the majority of good players in free agency have been concluded. Teams around the league still have gaps to fill and also at this point, they are more than likely weighing their options between only a few good players at each and every position. Simply put, teams may find a proven commodity in Ridley more appealing than a rookie running back who has never taken a snap in an NFL match.
Possibly the most important reason why the Patriots may decide to transfer him at some point during the draft is due to economical reasons. With Ridley set to turn out to be a free agent towards the end of this forthcoming season, he will likely be searching for a huge pay raise regardless of his fumbling issues. One team on the market with a major need at the placement will likely allow him that pay boost.
Will the Patriots be looking to offer a player who was demoted to 3rd series much less than a year ago a long-term contract for significantly more money? My guess could be no. The team will probably need to get something in exchange by trading him now instead of losing him for nothing in free agency.
With that in mind, the Patriots must be wanting to add a running back or 2 in the draft. Keeping Ridley might not be in the cards for a team that prides by itself on getting the job done. For a running back, that job is holding onto the football. A couple of teams that could have desire for a trade for Ridley are the Tennessee Titans along with the Cleveland Browns. Both of the teams need a running back with Chris Johnson gone from the Titans, as well as the injury-prone Ben Tate coupled with aging running back Willis McGahee at the position for the Browns.
In any event, a potential Ridley trade is one thing to keep close track of maybe during the second or third day of the 2014 NFL draft.Would you like to find out more about the new england patriots or their participants? heade over to our site and find out more! This article is copyright protected.