Patriots Trade Jamie Collins to Cleveland Browns
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the New England Patriots have traded linebacker Jamie Collins to the Cleveland Browns for a compensatory third-round draft pick.
The Patriots have decided which free-agent linebacker they plan to re-sign in the off-season, and it isn’t going to be Jamie Collins.
A second-round pick in 2013 out of Southern Mississippi, Collins put up a career-best 5.5 sacks last season and was selected to his first Pro Bowl. He had one sack and two interceptions in 7 games for the Patriots this year, starting six of those contests.
The emergence of Elandon Roberts and recent acquisition of Kyle Van Noy from the Detroit Lions leaves the Patriots with enough bodies keep the front seven fresh, but there’s no way to know how Collins’ departure will impact Matt Patricia’s defensive scheme until the team takes the field again in Week 10 against the Seattle Seahawks.
Perhaps the most important item of note in this deal is that the Patriots are now all-in on Hightower. Playing healthy for perhaps the first time in a solid calendar year, the fifth-year man out of Alabama has emerged as a premier play maker for the Patriots and is the undisputed leader on defense. Look for New England to lock him up with a new contract now that Collins is off to Cleveland.
More from Musket Fire
This article originally appeared on 
