Reports: Patriots Could Trade Joe Thuney, As Sides 'Haven't Been Close' On Contract Extension
BOSTON (CBS) -- As it stands right now, the Patriots are set to have close to $23.5 million counting against their 2020 salary cap solely for the guard position. It's not a situation Bill Belichick likely prefers.
The major reason for that money being so high comes from the Patriots placing the franchise tag on left guard Joe Thuney earlier this offseason. In doing so, it guaranteed Thuney a $14.781 million payday in 2020. One way for the Patriots to significantly lower his cap number would be to agree on along-term extension.
According to Mike Reiss of ESPN, that extension is nowhere near being completed. As a result, the Patriots may seriously consider trading Thuney before or during the draft this week.
"If a guard-needy team is willing to deal a second- or high third-rounder to help fill in the Patriots' draft board, that would have to be something [Bill] Belichick seriously considers with the knowledge that the sides haven't been close to an extension," Reiss wrote in his Sunday column.
The Athletic's Jeff Howe chimed in on the Thuney scuttlebutt on Monday, noting that the Patriots still hope to work out a long-term deal.
With Joe Thuney, the Pats' preference is still to strike a long-term deal to keep the player and slice away at the $14.8M cap charge. There haven't been any notable trade discussions yet. They'd like to avoid that cap hit, though, so it's possible things change this week.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) April 20, 2020
And in Peter King's FMIA column, he listed Thuney (along with five other players from around the league) as players "likely to get traded during the draft." King said Thuney is the third-most likely player to get dealt this week.
Since he was drafted in the third round in 2016, the 27-year-old Thuney has been an iron man for the Patriots, taking almost every single snap in 64 regular-season games and 10 playoff games, winning two Super Bowls with the team.