New England Patriots director of player personnel Matt Groh said his staff didn’t instigate the trade for DeVante Parker. But he indicated he was extremely pleased with how the trade took shape.
Groh, who the Patriots promoted into their top personnel job (below general manager Bill Belichick), detailed the machinations of the deal earlier this month when New England traded a 2023 third-round pick in exchange for Parker and a 2022 fifth-round pick.
“Certainly, it got kickstarted on their end with them adding a different player (Tyreek Hill) and then where they were at with their wide receiver room,” Groh told reporters on Friday during his pre-draft videoconference call. “And then having the opportunity to add a great player to our roster. So they just weren’t going to be able to keep everybody.
“When a player became available, I would say Matt Patricia did a good job of being on that early and getting that information to us as quickly as he could. We were in on that early and it really came together well for us. Really excited to have DeVante here.”
It’s unclear whether the Patriots are done adding at the receiver position after Parker joined Kendrick Bourne, Jakobi Meyers, Nelson Agholor, N’Keal Harry and Kristian Wilkerson, among others. In fact, it seems likely the Patriots will part ways with at least one receiver: Harry, who demanded a trade last year and who has struggled in New England’s system.
Groh suggested any team interested in adding a receiver this offseason had to be extremely aggressive. That much was clear after Christian Kirk’s massive contract with the Jaguars and the trades involving Davante Adams and Hill.
“We’ve got another good class of wide receivers this year (in the draft), and I think it’s just going to keep coming,” Groh said. “Whenever teams are going to add instant-impact players — which is what these wide receivers are in the game today — they’re going to do it. And you can’t just sit around and wait and hope to get these guys in the draft. You have to be proactive about going to get one of them.”
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