News broke early Thursday afternoon that the Browns traded Barkevious Mingo to the New England Patriots.
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The Browns declined to pick up Mingo’s fifth-year option during the offseason, which assured Mingo would become a free agent following this season.
While the Browns have had trouble finding somewhere to play Mingo, he has shown a diverse skillset while getting 97 tackles and seven sacks in 46 games.
The Browns selected the former Louisiana State Tiger in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Still, the Patriots have struck oil with less talented players than Mingo. Coach Bill Belichick now has a small army of athletic, versatile linebackers and pass rushers to pepper throughout the defense.
The Patriots are in the final stages of trading for Browns outside linebacker Barkevious Mingo.
Mingo, 25, is an outside linebacker.
Mingo, who played high school ball at West Monroe, will fly to Carolina today to join the Patriots for their preseason game tomorrow night.
The Browns, however, also just added two more outside linebacker through the 2016 NFL Draft, including Emmanuel Ogbah, taken in the second round. Trades like this are the root behind the real reason New England gets all the venom and hate thrown at them the way they do: craftiness. But he still lacks ideal pass rush moves and is only a run around the edge guy.
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It hasn’t been reported what the Patriots gave up to acquire Mingo, but it’s likely not much, and he clearly possess potential as a former Top 10 pick. Per Field Yates of ESPN, the Browns are in line to be awarded compensatory picks in the fourth and fifth rounds. The Browns’ recent first-round picks have not met expectations, as none of Cleveland’s four first-rounders taken between 2011 and 2013 is still with the team.
