Dante Scarnecchia explains in detail why he likes Trent Brown trade for Patriots
If anyone understands the offensive line and how pieces fit for the New England Patriots, it’s legendary coach Dante Scarnecchia.
Scarnecchia spent 34 seasons with the organization and he helped shape Trent Brown’s career during the one year the offensive tackle had with the team. Brown, who was recently traded to the Patriots, left after winning the Super Bowl in Foxborough to sign a massive four-year, $66 million deal with the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Patriots restructured his contract for the 2021 season, giving him $11 million for a one-year deal. Scarnecchia spoke with the Boston Herald’s Karen Guregian recently and gave his opinion on the trade.
“I like Trent. I think he’s got talent, I think he’s got immense talent,” Scarnecchia said. “I really enjoyed our time together. It definitely had some growing pains, but it was a very good time.”
Brown, 27, spent his first three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and was a bit of a project for the Patriots at first.
“I think what happened early on, you could just see in the way he was moving around to start practice where his mindset was, ‘I’m taking this day off,’ ’’ said Scarnecchia. “If allowed to do that, he would do it. But, we just didn’t allow him to do that. We’d tell him, ‘Hey look, this ain’t going to be the way it’s going to happen.’ It may have been said in a different tone, and not as nice as that, but once he got beyond all that, it was an absolute pleasure to be around him, and to coach him, especially the way he played for us.
“The last two-thirds of the year, and in particular in the playoffs, I think he was really exceptional in the playoffs.”
Going forward, Scarnecchia believes he can be trusted — and trust is exactly what the Patriots need for passing and running purposes this season.
“I think he can be a guy that you can run behind. He can make the tough blocks on the back side, and he’s a really good pass-blocker for multiple reasons,” he said.
“He’s so big, and he’s so long. He’s just a big guy to run around, and he’s really a hard guy to rush through. And, I think he loves challenges. The better the players, the more attention he pays. He really gets into it.”
There’s been opinions flowing around the league since the trade, but this is the one that really matters.
