After he had done a good job protecting the blind side of Tom Brady for seven season, the Patriots refused to get into a bidding war for left tackle Nate Solder. Instead, they let him hit the open market where Solder, of course, cashed in via a four-year, $62.5 million deal ($34.8 million guaranteed) from the New York Giants.
The Patriots? They did another very Patriot-like thing, trading for an inexpensive player who had played only three games at left tackle in three seasons to take Solder’s place.
A third-round pick was the price for getting right tackle Trent Brown from the San Francisco 49ers.