Alex Barth joined Toucher & Hardy to break down the Patriots’ roster outlook and trade rumors, including reported interest in Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson. Barth argued that giving up a first-round pick for a 30-year-old needing a new contract would be too steep, though he sees the defense as a potential top-five unit if they land a premier pass rusher. He also analyzed roster battles at running back and offensive line, noting Cole Strange may be on the bubble while depth concerns remain.
00:00All right, Alex, you know, you had Elliot Wolfe talk yesterday,
00:04and he said they would absolutely be willing to swing a trade late in the preseason,
00:10and then it's come out that they're interested in the edge rusher from Cincinnati.
00:16Trey Hendrickson.
00:17Trey Hendrickson and all these things.
00:19Where do you stand on that?
00:21Obviously, just Elliot Wolfe can't say, oh, no, we're completely opposed to doing something.
00:26Right.
00:27You can't take that off the table.
00:28So, I mean, but it's fun to speculate on.
00:32If you're Elliot Wolfe, is there any – first of all, do you go after Hendrickson,
00:36or is there holes you'd fill by giving up draft capital?
00:42No, Fred, I think you nailed it.
00:43Like, he's obviously – he was asked kind of vaguely,
00:45would you give up a first-round pick if it made the team better,
00:48which obviously the answer is going to be yes.
00:51When it comes to Hendrickson, 30 years old, needs a new contract,
00:54I'd be a little hesitant to give up a first-round pick.
00:56Like, if it was a second, you know, a second and a day three pick, I think I would do that.
01:00The big hole on this defense right now, well, they have a lot of nice complementary rushers.
01:05That linchpin guy, kind of their receiver room, right, the guy they've been missing,
01:09the guy that's going to dictate the way the other team has to scheme things.
01:13You drop that guy into this defense with this secondary,
01:16and I think you're talking about a unit that could be top five.
01:18So – but he is 30 years old.
01:20There is a shorter window on that.
01:21So I'm not completely out on the idea of Hendrickson,
01:24but the reports are Cincinnati wants a first-round pick, if not more.
01:29I think that's probably too much for a guy who's 30 years old and needs a new contract.
01:33I think, you know, if they're going to be parting with the first-round pick,
01:36I think you're probably talking about Micah Parsons,
01:38who's probably going to go for more than one first-round pick if he gets dealt at all.
01:41So if the price comes down, like, the Patriots should stay engaged, I think.
01:46But a first-round pick is probably a little too rich for a team
01:49that isn't exactly one player away from competing for a Super Bowl.
01:53If you're Elliott Wolfe, do you take the big swing?
01:55You brought up Micah Parsons.
01:56Obviously, it's going to take more than a first-round pick.
01:59Right.
01:59For a guy like that in his mid-20s who's a game record that you can obviously pay,
02:04considering the salary cap room you have, would you take a big swing at that guy?
02:07If it's one first-round pick, yeah, I would.
02:12And there's not a lot of comparisons for a trade like this.
02:15So take this with a grain of salt.
02:17But you look at the kind of comparable trades that have been made.
02:20That's three first-round picks or more.
02:23The Patriots need all that capital because, again, they don't need just one player.
02:27By the time Parsons hits 30 without those draft picks,
02:31are the Patriots really going to be in a contention window?
02:34As good as he is, he single-handedly has not helped.
02:37What is a better Cowboys roster have any success in the postseason?
02:40So I'm not opposed to it exactly, but I just think he's going to cost too much
02:45if he gets dealt at all, which I still don't think he will.
02:47Is there another way to effectively spend the money that they have left over right now
02:51other than trading for someone and someone who's going to cost a bunch of money
02:55after the trade?
02:55I mean, I'm not necessarily interested in spending the money just because you have it.
03:00That seems foolish, but it's there.
03:03And then also, Artie, the question is, you know, you hear people complaining
03:06about they have this much money is that, like, Alex, can you think of something
03:11that they could have gotten in free agency that someone outspent them for
03:16that would have made a huge difference this year and into the future?
03:21Not in free agency, no.
03:22Now, if they'd been maybe more aggressive on DK Metcalf and paid him,
03:25that would be the one thing I think of.
03:27But, you know, these wide receivers come available every year.
03:30Every time I hear, oh, they missed it on the wide receiver.
03:33And I was hearing that after DeAndre Hawkins.
03:35And look who's become available since then.
03:37Ayuk, Metcalf, maybe Terry McLaurin.
03:39I'm sure there'll be guys next year that want to get paid or won out of their
03:42respective situations.
03:43So to answer the original question, Artie, the cap rolls over.
03:47So that's basically how you spend it.
03:48You go out next year and they do need to make external additions.
03:52Christian Gonzalez is also looking at what's going to be a very significant contract.
03:55But outside of a trade, I don't know how you spend that money this year.
03:59But it will benefit them going into next season.
04:02All right.
04:02Let's talk about some of your roster projections here.
04:05We've been talking a lot about the running backs.
04:08What do you think the Patriots are going to do?
04:10So I have four on.
04:11The three that everybody considers locked, Stevenson, Henderson, and Gibson.
04:14I also put Michael Hastie on.
04:16I know he signed late.
04:17I just think since he got here, his usage has reflected that of a player
04:22the team plans on keeping.
04:23Now, maybe they could get him to the practice squad.
04:25He's going to elevate him, but he's going to contribute on special teams.
04:29And he's a plus special teams player.
04:30And he gives you some running back depth where you have Ramondre Stevenson,
04:33who's dealing with something here going into the start of the regular season.
04:37He was wearing a red non-contact jersey.
04:38So we've seen the last few years how quick running back depth can evaporate.
04:43There was a game, I think, two years ago where they suddenly only had one
04:46healthy running back on the roster.
04:48Like, it happened very quickly.
04:49So Hastie is a guy that if he's your fourth running back,
04:52if you need him to carry the ball a few times a game, he can handle himself.
04:57Not quite the same level as Brandon Bolden, but sort of reminds me of that guy.
05:01So I had those four on.
05:03Okay.
05:03So cold, strange.
05:05Who would have thought he could have been a bust?
05:07Who saw that going?
05:08Except for every other team and draft analyst.
05:11And the majority of us are the media.
05:13Yeah, well, then he played for some mid-major.
05:15Apparently not Sean McVay.
05:16Yeah.
05:16He played for, well, yeah, exactly.
05:18Apparently not Sean McVay.
05:19Right.
05:20If you remember, McVay made a sarcastic comment after the draft.
05:23We thought he was going to be available in the fourth round.
05:25Yeah, exactly.
05:26But he played without gloves.
05:28That is big news.
05:30But, like, there's, you know, talk of him not making the team.
05:34The left side of that line is up in the air.
05:37There's talk of them needing at least to add depth from cuts that other teams make.
05:42Does Cole Strange make this team?
05:44What's your analysis of the offensive line at this point?
05:49So I put Cole Strange on.
05:51I had 10 offensive linemen.
05:53I may end up changing that by the time I do my final Ross projection next week.
05:57The only way Cole Strange makes it is if it's essentially one of these things where they're still trying to figure out their starting left guard.
06:03They're still trying to figure out their center.
06:05And they're just going to continue the competition into the regular season.
06:09Kind of like they did a tackle last year.
06:12Which obviously isn't great.
06:13But it's something that teams do.
06:14Especially with how restrictive contact is in these training camp practices.
06:17You don't get a lot of time to evaluate offensive linemen.
06:20But if they're not going to do that.
06:21I mean, of the 10 guys I had on, he's probably 10th.
06:24Ben Brown, once he started playing guard.
06:26That was a bad sign for Cole Strange.
06:28Because the one thing Cole Strange had going for him was the versatility.
06:30You usually don't keep a backup interior lineman who can only play one position.
06:35Who can only play left guard.
06:36Or can only play center.
06:37Ben Brown had only played center to that point.
06:40Cole Strange could play center and guard.
06:41Now that Ben Brown's playing guard.
06:43Cole Strange is kind of struggling at center.
06:45He had two bad snaps yesterday.
06:48They're going to keep Ben Brown over him.
06:50The only thing is if Ben Brown ends up starting.
06:52Maybe they move Jared Wilson to center.
06:54Ben Brown's at left guard.
06:55Well, now you still need that multi-position backup.
06:58And that would basically be how Cole Strange would have to make the roster.
07:02We've talked at length about the offensive line just like you have.
07:05And I'm looking at the joint practices with Minnesota.
07:08Which weren't necessarily great for the offense.
07:10And then the number one offense on Saturday didn't look great.
07:14Should we be worried about this?
07:15Or is this just regular stuff getting ready for the regular season?
07:19It's a little bit of both.
07:20Like, I don't think it's as bad as last year.
07:23Some of the stuff from the joint practices.
07:24Like, I trust Will Campbell.
07:27I think he'll figure it out.
07:28I think he'll be fine.
07:29Morgan Moses is still limited.
07:31Once he's back out there, he should be stabilizing.
07:34It's still not great.
07:35I think their ceiling is a top 20 offensive line in the league.
07:39Now that's much better than 32nd.
07:41But it's still not great.
07:42The thing that worries me is I think that the starting five we've seen for most of the summer.
07:47Campbell, Wilson, Bradbury, Odwenu, and Moses.
07:50Like, I think that group is okay.
07:52As soon as you start pulling one or two guys out, though, it really turns into a house of cards.
07:57And odds are all five guys are not going to play 17 games across the board.
08:02So that's where I'm nervous is once they start having to go to backups or if Garrett Bradbury regresses or if Morgan Moses regresses or Will Campbell doesn't figure it out.
08:12Like, it can get bad pretty quickly.
08:14All right.
08:14You saw May play.
08:17First of all, do you think he plays on, what is it, Thursday?
08:21Do you think he plays on Thursday night?
08:22And are you getting any vibe of his readiness as this preseason goes on?
08:28It's tough to, like, Vrabel seems to want to play, guys.
08:33I don't know.
08:33Usually the starters don't play in this third game if they've played in the first two.
08:38In terms of his readiness, I think the big thing is that getting himself mentally set early in games.
08:44I know Zoe talked about it earlier this week.
08:47Just not having those sprays, those inaccurate throws early in the games.
08:50That's the big thing that stood out to me.
08:51I don't know how much one drive in the preseason is going to help him learn the Josh McDaniels offense at this point.
08:57I think he has a pretty good grasp of it.
08:59I don't know that that one drive is going to help more, especially since they're getting in a scout team stuff now in practice.
09:03And I think that's where they're really picking it up.
09:05We're just trying to figure out if Fred is going to watch the game or not.
09:09And that is entirely dependent on the number of starters and how long they play.
09:15So, Vrabel said yesterday that they hadn't determined yet.
09:18But the fact they hadn't means, I think, obviously, the door's still open.
09:22If they play, I think it's going to be the same thing we've seen.
09:24I think it's going to be one, maybe two drives.
09:27It's not going to be the dress rehearsal third preseason game like he used to be.
09:32Yeah, yeah.
09:33It's all messed up now.
09:35You don't know what to expect.
09:36All right, Kyle Duggar, not going to be there?
09:39I don't think so.
09:40I was on the fence, and then he has that near fumble on the last play.
09:44And that – I know it's a preseason game, and ultimately the outcome doesn't matter.
09:48But you look at the situation he's in, and that's what this time of year is.
09:52You're judging guys off of that.
09:53That's the exact kind of play I feel like this coaching staff has been preaching
09:57cutting out of the organization since they got here, right?
10:00It's a bad football play.
10:02It's not a high-IQ football play.
10:04It can just go down, end the game, tries to run it out for no reason,
10:07gets the ball punched out.
10:09That seems like the kind of thing they've been preaching getting rid of.
10:12So when you have a guy that's on the fence already, makes that sort of play.
10:16Now, there's financial implications.
10:17They really don't save any money if they cut him.
10:19I actually think they ultimately save more money if they hold on to him
10:23through this year, I believe, and then cut him at the end of the year.
10:27So there is still that thing.
10:28But he's being used on the scout team.
10:30He had that bad fumble.
10:32I mean, just football-wise, it's all pointing to him not being on the team.
10:35All right.
10:36Well, Alex Barth, read him, watch him, 98.5thesportshub.com.
10:41Alex, it's always a pleasure.
10:43Thank you, sir.
10:45Thanks for having me, guys.
10:45For all the latest from the Sports Hub, download the app at 98.5thesportshub.com.
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