The trade of Brandin Cooks was a great deal for the Patriots.
Somehow they were able to get a first-round pick for a player they likely were only going to get one more year with, as there was little chance the Patriots would have been able to re-sign him next offseason.
It made a ton of sense for the Patriots and there are a ton of positives that came with it, especially now having four picks in the first 63 overall. But, there is one concern following the trade, as losing Cooks is putting more stress on the top Patriots receivers, all of which have injury concerns.
The Patriots wide receiver depth chart now has Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Phillip Dorsett, Malcolm Mitchell, Kenny Britt, Cordarrelle Patterson, Riley McCarron and Cody Hollister. Typically, five receivers are kept with Matthew Slater technically being the sixth, so there will be some roster battles during camp.
Edelman, Hogan and Mitchell figure to be the top three and all of them are coming off injuries in 2017.
Edelman missed the entire year with a torn ACL and so did Mitchell with a knee injury. Hogan had an injury of his own, missing six games with a shoulder ailment. Especially with Edelman and Mitchell, no one really knows what to expect from them given the time missed.
Cooks was a dependable No. 1-2 receiver, so without him in the mix it's putting a lot of pressure on those three receivers to not only produce at a high level, but stay on the field.
In addition, Patterson may be the player most similar to Cooks, given his speed, but he's been more of a special teams/gadget player over the course of his career and not been able to make much of an impact as a receiver.
It's also worth noting the overall position needs to get younger, especially with Edelman, Hogan and Britt all either in their 30s or approaching 30. Having four picks in the first two rounds, the potential is there to take a receiver high in the draft, the only thing is Bill Belichick hasn't had much success with drafting receivers over the years.
The team could also add a veteran receiver via free agency, such as Jordan Matthews who reportedly visited earlier this week, but any player the Patriots acquire at the position between now and training camp would really be just a depth player competing for one of the final spots on the team, not someone who could be counted on to make an impact.
Overall, the Cooks trade was a huge positive, but it is worth noting the Patriots are relying on a number of players with injury histories now.
