Patriots struck gold acquiring Ayers

Steven Senne/AP

As a New England Patriot Akeem Ayers has been a solid starter, playing over 70 percent of the snaps on defense and according to Belichick:

He has done about what we expected him to do. He learned very quickly, got on the field quickly, has a lot of position flexibility physically, and has a lot of position flexibility mentally in terms of assignments -- rushing, covering, man coverage, zone coverage. He has a good feel for the game. He's a smart guy, an instinctive player -- like Rob, but different than Rob.

As the trade deadline approached last October the Patriots made a trade that barely was on the radar of the national sports media. The Patriots, who had lost starting linebacker Jerod Mayo for the year, traded for former second round pick Akeem Ayers. Ayers had been struggling in Tennessee and the organization received almost nothing for him. Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt talked about the trade on his radio show shortly after the trade stating:

A situation that was probably the best for both parties... Somebody that was interested and we got something out of it. It's good for us, it's good for Akeem, and wish him the best.

Personally I think that the trade was far more beneficial for Ayers and the Patriots than for Tennessee. The Patriots are now one of the best defenses in the league in part because of Ayer's play and are thinking of competing for a championship in Arizona. Whereas the Titans are only competing for the top spot in the draft.

That brings up the part of the trade that is so sweet. If the Patriots go deep in the playoffs and the Titans continue their pitiful play then the Patriots will have gained a great starter and only moved back a few spots in the back end of the draft(possibly only a few spots). Not too shabby. That amazing trade resulted in one of my favorite plays below.



Considering the Patriots gave up almost nothing for a quality starter you could say the trade is one of the best trades of the season.

Do you believe the Patriots trading for Ayers the best trade of the season? Let us know in the comments section below!

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