The New England Patriots are in deep discussions with New Orleans about shipping Pro Bowl cornerback Malcolm Butler to the Saints for wide receiver Brandin Cooks, according to multiple reports on Thursday.
The two teams have previously considered this deal but the Patriots’ decision to add Pro Bowl cornerback Stephon Gilmore earlier Thursday appears to have rekindled the possible trade.
Butler is a restricted free agent who New England tendered at $3.91 million earlier this week. Talks toward a long-term deal haven’t been fruitful.
The 27-year-old has been a fan favorite since intercepting Seattle’s Russell Wilson at the goal line to clinch the Patriots’ victory in Super Bowl XLIX following the 2014 campaign.
Butler intercepted four passes in 2016 and has six in 43 regular-season games over three seasons.
Cooks caught 78 passes for 1,173 yards and eight touchdowns last season. It was his second straight 1,000-yard campaign as he caught 84 passes for 1,138 yards and nine scores in 2015.
The 23-year-old has 215 career receptions for 2,861 yards and 20 touchdowns, and would upgrade New England’s receiving corps.
Cooks is scheduled to make $1.563 million this season in the final year of his four-year rookie contract.
The Tennessee Titans have also inquired about Cooks.
Gilmore is expected to sign a five-year deal with the New England Patriots, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Thursday. The deal will not be completed until after 4 p.m. ET, the start of the league’s new year.
After the Buffalo Bills exercised Gilmore’s $11.082 million fifth-year option in May 2016, the sides were unable to reach a long-term contract agreement before talks broke down in the summer.
The Patriots are also working on a two-year deal to retain defensive tackle Alan Branch. The NFL Network reports the deal is worth close to $12 million.
The 26-year-old Gilmore was outspoken in training camp last year, saying that he was one of the elite cornerbacks in the league. Buffalo opted against using its franchise tag on Gilmore, who rebounded from a tough start to the season to earn his first Pro Bowl selection.
Gilmore reeled in a pair of interceptions in Week 11 against Cincinnati and finished with a career-high five picks to go along with 48 tackles last season. He has 14 interceptions in his career since being selected with the 10th overall pick by Buffalo in the 2012 draft.
New England will have a shutdown-level cornerback opposite former Super Bowl hero Butler, who received the first-round tender as a restricted free agent.
The 32-year-old Branch had 49 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 2016. He has started 32 games with the Patriots over the past three seasons.
The 10-year veteran played with the Arizona Cardinals for his first four seasons. He spent two seasons with the Seattle Seahawks and one with the Buffalo Bills before joining the Patriots.
In a Wednesday trade, tight end Dwayne Allen left the Indianapolis Colts to join the Patriots.
The Patriots are sending their fourth-round pick in the 2017 draft to the Colts, who packaged a sixth-round pick in April with Allen to complete the deal.
Allen signed a four-year, $29.4 million deal last spring to remain with the Colts, but the former third-round pick (2012) was made expendable due to the emergence of Jack Doyle in 2016. Doyle signed a contract with the Colts last week.
The Patriots could lose Martellus Bennett in free agency and Allen is capable of being a full-time starter in a system that often uses tandem tight ends — provided Rob Gronkowski recovers from a second back surgery.
The move is not official until Allen passes a physical and trades cannot be completed until Thursday at 4 p.m. ET, when the new league year officially begins.
Allen is due $4.9375 million in 2017 and $5 million in 2018 before the deal jumps to $7.4 million in 2019.