Report: Patriots Stashed Potential Starting Offensive Tackle

The New England Patriots may not draft an offensive tackle in 2020. The team selected offensive tackle Yodny Cajuste in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft straight out of West Virginia.

Cajuste missed his rookie campaign and didn’t even practice with the team. The rookie had a quad surgery a month before the draft. Analysts thought that the young Cajuste would stay at the sidelines for three months. However, he ended up missing the entire campaign.

New England could have used Cajuste in 2019. Marshall Newhouse saw extensive snaps after Isaiah Wynn left the game due to a toe injury. Wynn missed half of the season. Right tackle Marcus Cannon missed a lot of games, too.

The Patriots have a talented offensive tackle

If Wynn and Cannon don’t take their starting roles again, Cajuste will take Newhouse’s former role as the team’s swing tackle. But, Wynn and Cannon are expected to return. Cajuste played left tackle with the Mountaineers, but he has the ability to play on the right side too.

Cannon will turn 32, and his contract goes through 2022. If everything goes according to the plan, then Cajuste may become the team’s future starting right tackle. There’s also a possibility for Cajuste to replace Joe Thuney as the Patriots’ starting left guard in 2020 if the Patriots believe he could kick inside. Thuney is a free agent, and the Patriots don’t have a replacement starter on the roster at this point.

Cajuste was a brilliant college player. However, he did miss time due to knee injuries. In 2018, he didn’t allow a sack and let up just 12 total pressures as a senior. In his four-year college career, Cajuste allowed just three sacks, four quarterback hits, and 32 hurries. Cajuste would have gone up in the draft without his health concerns.

Is Cajuste the next Cannon or Antonio Garcia? Cannon was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma before the draft but played as a rookie. He started 69 games and won three Super Bowls. He also was named to an All-Pro list.