Patriots’ QB signing shows how team fleeced Panthers

The Patriots added quarterback Matt Corral after he was cut by the Panthers following one season. Carolina selected him in the third round (94th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft after trading its fourth-round pick (137th overall) and 2023 third (76th overall) to New England.

With those picks, the Patriots selected quarterback Bailey Zappe and rookie linebacker Marte Mapu.

Zappe started two games last season and was a surprise cut on Tuesday before being added to New England's practice squad.

Mapu was a standout in training camp after playing collegiately at FCS Sacramento State. He might find it hard to get on the field in the regular season with veterans in front of him but has a lot of potential.

Corral lost his first season to a torn Lisfranc ligament in his left foot, which he suffered in the preseason against... wait for it... New England.

While nowhere near as awful as the 49ers trading three firsts and a third for a fourth-rounder, it's still a massive clunker for the Panthers.

Carolina could use an infusion of youth as it rebuilds around quarterback Bryce Young. Entering the season, the Panthers have the fourth-oldest roster by average age (26.92 years), per Spotrac.

Instead, it gave up two picks for a player that never played in the regular season. 

For New England, it's another winning trade. 

Bill Belichick has taken advantage of other front offices in the past, such as in 2013 when he traded New England's first-round pick to Minnesota - which it used to draft Cordarrelle Patterson - for four picks, including Jamie Collins and Logan Ryan. 

Each of those three players went on to win a Super Bowl, all with the Patriots. Collins and Ryan won two Super Bowls (2014, 2016) while Patterson eventually landed in New England for its 2018 championship run after it traded a fifth-round pick to the Raiders for him.

It makes one wonder why a team would ever trade with Belichick again. Not only will he likely make the most out of the additional picks he acquires, but he'll end up with the player being targeted at some point, anyway.

Let this be a lesson to 31 NFL franchises. If Belichick wants to talk during the NFL Draft, don't answer.