The Patriots Kinda Concede They Made a Mistake in Free Agency as They Dump Josh Uche for a 6th Round Pick

This trade of Josh Uche for what amounts to basically a trade chip in the next draft could be taken as a sign of a few different things. I'm sure some will paint it as evidence the Patriots are tanking. There are no doubt talk show hosts in Boston arguing it's further proof of their premise Mr. Kraft won't spend money. Some may argue it's Jerod Mayo sending a message no one is safe or something.

I could make the argument it's another "Right Again, Old Balls" example, but I'm too humble to post more than one of those a day. Even though in this instant, it's true. I was never as high on Uche as most people. He was a low priority target on my list of Patriots to keep as free agency approached:

8. Josh Uche 

It says everything that this highlight is from his breakout season on 2022. Because in 2023 he broke right back in again. (I know that sentence didn't exactly stick the landing, but I'm leaving it.) Uche has established my worst fear for him when he was drafted. And that is he's a Johnny One Note who can rush the passer on occasion, flash brilliantly at times, but otherwise is a liability. He's too undersized and gets run at any time he's not in an obvious position to pin his ears back and attempt to quick-twitch a tackle off the edge. Unless there has been a major change in philosophy, there's no room for a specialist in Mayo's defense. And guys like him get paid way out of proportion to their actual value. 

Let the record show that Eliot Wolf did sign each of my Top 5 choices. To me, Uche was just an afterthought. A limited player who could only really contribute in subpackages if Mayo was going to continue playing the same system he grew up as a professional in. One that puts a premium on versatile, 3-down defenders, particularly at defensive end. Which is appears is the case since they traded him for 10 cents on the dollar halfway through the same season after they gave him an extension.

So what I take this to mean is the Wolf/Mayo braintrust admitting they messed up.  Somehow they fell in love with a guy's one good productive season, and thought he'd somehow find a way to become more like the occasional flash he showed at times, but he was never going to. 

The Belichickian philosopher in me believes that sacks are the most overrated stat in football. And I can promise you he'd have never extended this player. Though I respect his saltiness about the lack of value coming back in the trade:

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Like I said, GMs overpay to get sack specialists, and Eliot was no exception. Uche had 11.5 of the things in 2022.  And an impressive 14.5 QB hits to go with them. And has never had more than 3.0 of the former and 7 of the latter in any of his four other seasons. He's got 2.0 so far through eight games. He's currently 20th on his own roster in overall Pro Football Focus grade. And in the one thing he's supposed to be really good at, pass rush, he's graded 22nd among all edge rushers. But in pass coverage, he's 121st at his position out of 122 graded players. So they're cutting their losses.

I could've told them, but no one asked. The shiny object that is a DE/OLB's double digit sack total can be just too much for some personnel departments to resist. Now hopefully they can use that draft pick on somebody who can contribute on every down. And free up some money to for good use, like extending Keion White a year or two before he hits the market. 

For now, we can all respect the Pats front office's willingness to admit they blew this one and move on.