The New England Patriots sent CB Justin Coleman to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for a late round pick. The Patriots needed draft picks for trade bait because their 2018 third/fourth rounders were tied up as conditions to the Eric Rowe trade with the Philadelphia Eagles and their 2018 seventh round pick was shipped to the Cincinnati Bengals for Marquis Flowers.
Now the Patriots have an extra late round pick, in addition to their own fifth and sixth round picks, that they can use to acquire some depth- likely with a wide receiver capable of returning punts.
But the direct move with Coleman benefits Patriots cornerbacks that were previously on the roster bubble. Undrafted rookies Kenny Moore, D.J. Killings, and Will Likely now have a path to the Patriots active roster with Coleman out of the way and Cyrus Jones heading to the injured reserve.
The Patriots could technically keep just four cornerbacks- Stephon Gilmore, Malcolm Butler, Eric Rowe, and Jonathan Jones- and they’ve done that in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2015 over the past decade. But in more recent years, the team has favored five or six cornerbacks on the active roster.
Moore is the best of those three cornerbacks, with Killings provide solid run defense and Likely adding value as a returnman. But Moore played every defensive snap and 25 special teams snaps (second most on the team!) against the New York Giants in the season finale as the coaching staff wanted to get a good look at what he brought to the table.
He passed the test beautifully, making a special teams stop, seven tackles on defense, a pass break-up, and allowing just three of seven targets for completion. He showed the necessary versatility and value on four downs to earn a roster spot.
Likely and Killings are longer shots to make the roster, but with Moore potentially on the active roster, a spot on the practice squad could now be available for the taking.
But all signs point to Moore- who had a very solid offseason with the team- being the direct beneficiary of Coleman’s old roster spot.