I'll save everyone from having to listen to Bedard for 40 minutes. This is from Jeff Howe from 3 days ago.
Trent Brown was out of practice, so
Yodny Cajuste took over at left tackle with
Justin Herron sticking at right tackle. Players rotate positions all the time during the spring, but the Patriots are clearly working on a contingency plan if they don’t have Wynn, who has missed 35 of 70 games in his four-year career, including the playoffs.
Brown was the starter last week with Herron again on the right side, and this is notable because Brown stuck to right tackle last season. Herron has played both spots in his career but has an edge in career snaps from left tackle (394) to right tackle (290).
Meanwhile, Wynn is playing on his fully guaranteed, $10.4 million fifth-year option and has the fifth-highest cap charge on the team. It’s not an outrageous number — the 14th-highest cap hit among
NFL left tackles — but it’s a high number for a player who hasn’t consistently been available, especially at such a premium position.
The Patriots are doing one of two things with the Brown-Herron reps: They’re either getting proactive with their backup plan if Wynn gets injured, or they’re trying to obtain as much information as possible to determine if there’s a drop-off in performance from Wynn-Brown to Brown-Herron.
Wynn is in a contract year — a time when the Patriots tend to increase their consideration of trading a player — and the team only has $1.8 million in cap space. If the Patriots make Wynn available, there’s a belief from other executives around the league that he could draw a decent return because he has generally performed well when healthy and there’s such a shortage of offensive line talent.
The problem? If the Patriots trade Wynn and Brown gets injured, the tackles behind Herron on the depth chart are dangerously unproven, short of them kicking right guard
Mike Onwenu back outside. That’d be a big gamble with a line that has already lost right guard
Shaq Mason to a trade, interior starter
Ted Karras in free agency and three coaches in three years, particularly when second-year quarterback
Mac Jones’ growth should be the coaches’ greatest priority.
It’s got to be something the Patriots are considering, though.
New England is tinkering with different O-line rotations in case the oft-injured Wynn is out or even traded.
theathletic.com
Miguel answers your burning question
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