Curran: Does Trent Brown trade make the Patriots better?

With free agency a week away, the New England Patriots have swung a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders to bring back massive offensive tackle Trent Brown.

First reaction? This move is being made in anticipation of a Joe Thuney departure. Thuney, who was franchised in 2020, is going to be too rich for the Patriots' blood at around $15 million per year. Especially when right guard Shaq Mason is handsomely paid as well. You can’t be spending next to nothing on tight ends, wideouts, running backs and quarterback and going hog wild at offensive guard.

Or you can, but it’s a bad idea.

Anyway, before we plumb too deep on the finances and what Brown’s return may mean to the rotation, let’s look at the arc of his career.

Perry: What Trent Brown trade means for Thuney, Pats' o-line in 2021

Originally the San Francisco 49ers' seventh-round pick in 2015, Brown was traded to the Patriots during the 2018 NFL Draft along with a fifth-round pick. The Niners got a third-rounder in return. Brown played right tackle for the Niners but joined the Patriots with no particular place to go since that spot was held down by Marcus Cannon. Brown was a high-upside project.

The knock on Brown when he got to New England was that the 6-foot-8, 380-pounder just couldn’t keep up with the conditioning. Coaching legend Dante Scarnecchia made Brown his 2018 summer project. When rookie Isaiah Wynn -- a first-rounder drafted to replace Nate Solder -- tore his Achilles in training camp, Brown stepped in at left tackle.

He played 97.7 percent of the snaps. He allowed three sacks in 16 games. The Patriots won the Super Bowl in large part because of their ability to run the ball effectively. Brown was a major part of that too.

A free agent in 2019, Brown signed with the Raiders right away for four years and $66M with $36.75M guaranteed. That made him the highest-paid tackle in the league.

In 2019, Brown missed five games. In 2020, he played three snaps in the season opener before a calf injury put him on injured reserve until Week 5. He came back, played one game, contracted COVID and ultimately missed 11 games.

Brown played 16 games over two seasons for the Raiders. They paid him all of that guaranteed dough: $36.75M.

"It’s disappointing, no doubt. It’s very disappointing," Raiders head coach Jon Gruden said at the end of the season relative to Brown missing games. "We brought him in here to be the LeBron James of right tackles. He’s had a lot of adversity. He’s had injuries, a number of injuries. It’s hurt our football team no doubt. But that’s part of this business."

Brown was down to make $13.75M in salary with the Raiders this year. In trading him to the Patriots, Las Vegas got out from under that hit and picked up a fifth-rounder next year. The Patriots get Brown and a 2022 seventh-rounder.

The Patriots also got Brown to rework his deal which would have traveled with him from Las Vegas. Now, instead of two years and close to $29M remaining on the deal, the Patriots got him for one year at a maximum of $11M. The deal reportedly is incentive-laden and those incentives are probably linked to playing time.

If the Raiders were going to release Brown because their patience ran out, why did he facilitate a trade to New England with a pay cut instead of hitting the open market?

That’s what our friend Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk wondered.

Unless someone else would have traded for Trent Brown and taken on his existing deal, it's odd that he agreed to take less to facilitate a trade to Patriots. He could have just waited to be cut and then signed in NE as a free agent.

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 9, 2021

Brown himself seemed to answer that question with this tweet.

Money don’t mean shit if you ain’t happy I swear to GOD!!

— Trent Brown (@Trent) March 9, 2021

Additionally, after spending two seasons as the Derrick Rose of right tackles rather than the LeBron James, Brown wasn’t going to see cash rain down on him. Why not go back to where he had success?

So how does the re-signing of Brown reconfigure the Patriots offensive line? Well, it’s a little like a jigsaw puzzle. But fortunately, all the pieces SHOULD fit.

We can X Thuney out of the mix so there’s a hole at left guard. We can also anticipate, I think, a return by center David Andrews who is also a free agent. Mason is locked in at right guard. Michael Onwenu had a very good rookie season at right tackle. The talented but perpetually injured Wynn is at left tackle. Marcus Cannon is coming back after opting out in 2020.

Patriots Talk Podcast: Does Trent Brown make the Patriots better in 2021? | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube

Or, they can move Wynn to left guard to replace Thuney and plop Brown down at left tackle where he played so well for the Patriots in 2018. Second-year tackle Justin Herron and third-year tackle Yodny Cajuste, who has yet to play a regular-season snap, are projected depth.

Bottom line, the Patriots have plenty of talent. More than enough. That’s a tremendous array of players who have great versatility. The concern is durability. Of Wynn and Brown especially.

But the move for Brown -- in conjunction with the presumed departure of Thuney -- doesn’t make the Patriots better. It only softens the blow of Thuney's loss. Potentially.