The Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots worked out a trade for tight end James O’Shaughnessy. Here’s some inside info from the Pats side.
The New England Patriots already acquired one veteran tight end this offseason in Dwayne Allen from the Indianapolis Colts, but that did not stop them from doing the same with James O’Shaughnessy from the Kansas City Chiefs during NFL Draft weekend. The teams worked out a deal for the former Illinois State player in return for the Chiefs moving up a single round from the sixth to fifth rounds.
On the Patriots end, Director of Player Personnel Nick Caserio took to the media to explain his side of the deal as they entered Day 3 of the draft. He specifically cited their own familiarity with O’Shaughnessy in the pre-draft process from two years ago as a reason to make the deal.
"“We went down there (to Illinois State), we worked him out before the (2015) draft, so we had some contact with him. I mean, he was a player that we liked that year and the Chiefs ended up picking him,” said Caserio. “He’s had some experience offensively. He’s had a decent role in the kicking game for them down there in Kansas City, He hasn’t been in our system, so we’re kind of starting from scratch with him.”"
O’Shaughnessy was likely going to be released in Kansas City given that the Chiefs already have Demetrius Harris, Ross Travis and new free agent signing Gavin Escobar also behind Travis Kelce, who is entrenched as the starter.