The New England Patriots have shopped wide receiver Danny Amendola as a possible trade chip this offseason and teams like the Oakland Raiders, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints, Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers could be in the mix for a deal with Bill Belichick involving draft picks or players.
Amendola was signed in the offseason last year to make up for the loss of Wes Welker and while he did a solid job, he was injured for part of the season and missed four games and that could lead to the Pats making a deal. According to CBS Sports, the team has looked to use Amendola as trade bait and they have shopped him to other teams, but so far there has been no progress on an actual deal and if a trade went down, it likely would include draft picks.
The Patriots have a young crop of wide receivers that emerged last season while Rob Gronkowski and Amendola were injured and now the team could look to move on from the wideout that signed last year. Amendola signed a five year contract worth nearly $30 million and with $10 million guaranteed, the team could release him, but that puts the salary cap in a tough spot, as his cap number is $4.575 million in 2014 but cutting him would leave 6.8 million in dead money and no one wants to mess with that.
Amendola was expected to come in and make up for the strong of 100-catch seasons by Welker, but injuries derailed that and after a great start against Buffalo, he missed four games after that and ended up playing in 12. Amendola made 54 catches for 633 yards and two touchdowns this past season and while he could be in line for a big year in 2014 if healthy, the Patriots may try to trade him and then sign someone else in free agency, with names like Golden Tate and Emmanuel Sanders as potential fits. The team could look to re-sign Julian Edelman after he ended up in the role the team wanted Amendola to play, as he had over 100 catches and was very impressive.
The 28 year old has dealt with injuries over the past few seasons, playing in just 24 games over the past three years and to re-sign Edelman, they may have to part ways with Amendola. Edelman will get some attention on the free agent market and the Patriots would like to re-sign him before that happens. The team has Kenbrell Thompkins, Aaron Dobson and Josh Boyce from last season and if they bring back Edelman, that is a solid group for Tom Brady next season.
