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It’s a rare situation where an NFL player gets to choose his trade destination. And surely, it wasn’t that simple when DeVante Parker told the Miami Dolphins that, if they were going to trade him, he hoped to land with the New England Patriots. But it sounded like the trade was in the best interest of all three parties involved: the Dolphins, the Patriots and Parker.
“I chose to get traded here,” Parker said during a conference call with reporters Thursday. “My agent (Jimmy Gould) hit me up, just telling me what the situation was, and the options I had for the teams to go to. The first on my list was the Patriots. I’m just excited we were able to get everything done.”
The Patriots were the most aggressive team in the mix, according to general manager Chris Grier. New England moved quickly after executive and assistant coach Matt Patricia learned Parker was on the trade market. The Patriots managed to get in the mix and give up a 2023 third-rounder for Parker and a 2022 fifth-rounder.
“We worked with the agent, talked to DeVante, we wanted to do right by him as well,” Grier told reporters this week. “Getting that third-round pick was very important to us. We were fine if it was this year or next year.”
For Parker, the Patriots were standouts for a few reasons. He said he appreciated and wanted to be a part of New England’s culture. Parker also showed love for quarterback Mac Jones. But the biggest attractor might have been that he’s had success in the Patriots offensive system. When the Dolphins ran something similar under Chad O’Shea, Miami’s former offensive coordinator and the Patriots’ former receivers coach, Parker put up the best numbers of his career (72 catches, 1,202 yards, 9 TDs).
“The offenses, yeah — they’re very similar,” Parker said. “I think the offense helps everyone out a lot, with the way they can move you around and things like that. And it’s just something I’m looking forward to.”
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