It was clear all summer long that Duke Dawson, drafted with the 56th overall selection just one year earlier, was far from the roster lock a former second-round pick should be at this stage in his career. Too inconsistent were his performances during training camp and preseason, too deep the New England Patriots at the cornerback position for him to carve out a steady role within the secondary.
On Friday, therefore, the team decided to pull the plug before Dawson even entered his sophomore season in the NFL: the Patriots traded the 23-year-old and a seventh-round draft pick to the Denver Broncos for a sixth-round selection.