The Seahawks Somehow Fleeced the Patriots in the Jacob Hollister Trade to Mark Another Bill Belichick Mistake

The New England Patriots are currently in tight end purgatory after the sudden retirement of Rob Gronkowski in 2019. Finding a suitable replacement for a generational talent is always difficult, but New England thought Ben Watson could fill in admirably, and not Jacob Hollister.

As a result, the team traded Hollister to the Seattle Seahawks for a 2020 conditional seventh-round draft pick a month later. That turned out to be an absolute steal or the Seahawks.

Hollister became an impact player for the Seahawks after starting tight end Will Dissly suffered a season-ending injury in the team's Week 6 matchup against the Cleveland Browns. In 11 regular season games, Hollister caught 41 passes for 349 yards (both third-most on the team) and three touchdowns. That's a damn good return for what the Hawks paid.

So how did the Patriots use that draft pick? Well, they sent it along with the un-retired Gronkowski to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for their 2020 fourth-round selection. The Patriots would then use that fourth-rounder in a package deal with the Las Vegas Raiders to select UCLA tight end Devin Asiasi in the third round and Marshall kicker Justin Rohrwasser in the fifth.

It's unknown if Asiasi will make an immediate impact on the Patriots offense considering they took another tight end in Virginia Tech's Dalton Keene later that round. As for Rohrwasser, he's becoming more of a distraction for the team than anything due to his controversial tattoo.

In all honesty, the Patriots would've been better off just keeping Hollister on their roster. But hey, the Seahawks aren't complaining!