Patriots trade Collins to Browns for reported conditional 3rd-round pick

Who says the NFL trade deadline can't be exciting?

With just one day remaining to swing a deal this season, the New England Patriots have traded linebacker Jamie Collins to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a conditional draft pick.

Terms of the agreement weren't disclosed as part of the Browns' official announcement, but an initial report of the deal from ESPN's Adam Schefter indicated that the Patriots would receive a compensatory third-round selection in next year's draft.

The NFL's transaction wire later listed the move involving a 2018 fourth-round pick. As ESPN's Field Yates explained, that may simply be a placeholder in consideration of both the Browns being awarded their expected compensatory picks and the fact that, due to Deflategate sanctions, the Patriots will be stripped of their highest fourth-round choice in the 2017 draft.

Either way, New England electing to ship out a star defender amid another potential Super Bowl season makes for a shocking move, to say the least.

Much like Bill Belichick and Co. did in sending Chandler Jones to the Arizona Cardinals this past offseason, though, the Patriots get a premium draft selection in return for a player that was set to cash in on the open market next year.

As productive as Collins was in the middle of New England's defense for each of the past three seasons, consistently dominating both against the run and in coverage, meeting his market value evidently wasn't in the cards for a defense that's long been able to plug and play talent.

A follow-up report from Schefter adds that Collins was at one point asking for a contract in the range of Von Miller's record-setting deal of $114.5 million over six years. The former second-round pick had turned down an offer of $11 million per season from New England in those discussions, according to Ben Volin of The Boston Globe.

The Browns, now in the first year of a mass organizational rebuild, are in a far better position to reward Collins with a long-term contract before he hits free agency in March.

A multi-year agreement taking shape would depend largely on Collins' willingness to remain in Cleveland long term, but the club also has leverage in the form of the ability to use the franchise tag.

The trade of a compensatory selection would be the first such deal after the NFL approved rules allowing those picks to be dealt starting with the 2017 draft.