I really think the Kevin Hogan part of that opening sentence is a clause that deserves more attention. He’s the only 2017 Browns’ fizzle-out who’s not even a #2 in 2018 and he’s only there because they have doubts about a recent Mr. Irrelevant (actually, now that I think about it, maybe that constitutes the smartest…

Literally the first thing I thought of when I saw this story.

Not necessarily. Compensatory picks in the NFL aren’t determined by individual player departure. There’s a genuine chance that this is the best the Patriots could have gotten for him at any time.

Over the last 24 hours, it’s obvious that either the Patriots considered this addition by substraction or want the rest of the league to THINK they considered it addition by substraction. Or both. And maybe something else...?

Being a Patriots fan just feels dirty.

Turns out the NFL compensatory draft system is more complicated than that (not shockingly). You aren’t giving picks for individual players, but for losing more “quality”* players than you gain, total.

Given that the Patriots are looking at making several resignings (as detailed above), they might not have gotten…

What strikes me is that this trade MAY make no sense for the Patriots (if the benefit from having the pick a year earlier doesn’t outweigh Collins’ hypothetical production), but DEFINITELY makes no sense for the Browns...who can only keep him for eight irrelevant games or overpay him.

Between that and the news…

Meta-genius.

A year later, though. Apparently it was worth it to get an extra pick NEXT year...plus the staff was pissed at Collins for “freelancing.”

In 2018 and not next year.