Why would the Patriots trade one of their best players midseason?

Jamie Collins is a good football player, capable of playing multiple positions along the defensive front and athletic enough to excel at most of the them.

Yes, Bill Belichick is the NFL’s version of a Jedi who says “those are not the draft picks you’re looking for” with a hand wave, but there’s no reason to believe Collins will suddenly turn into a pumpkin after the Cleveland Browns gave up a third-round pick to get him.

The 27-year-old put up freakish numbers at the 2013 NFL Combine and they translated to the football field with the New England Patriots. He’s a player entering the prime of his career and has a knack for making big plays. Collins is never in trouble off the field and the only fine in his career was a small $8,268 for hitting Brandon Tate, who he didn’t see call fair catch.

There’s not much reason for the Browns to feel like they got tricked into buying fool’s gold, so the question is: Why would the Patriots trade away Collins now?

Jamie Collins isn’t the only good defensive player the Patriots had. After eight weeks only two teams give up fewer points per game than the Patriots, and there are other stars like Malcolm Butler and Dont’a Hightower with expiring contracts just like Collins.

Keeping the core together will be costly, and it could’ve been borderline impossible if Collins asked for an astronomical amount. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Collins went ahead and asked for an astronomical amount.

Collins is a very good player, but Von Miller is a truly great one. The sixth-year Denver Broncos linebacker has 68.5 career sacks, four Pro Bowls, and a Super Bowl MVP to his name. Collins isn’t that.

The Patriots certainly could’ve tried talking him down from that price to something more reasonable, but when the negotiations start so high, it seems likely that the franchise tag would’ve been the most realistic way to keep Collins in New England. But even that would’ve cost around $15 million in 2017. Even bigger than the $14 million cap hit for Tom Brady next season.

If the Patriots chose to part ways with Collins in free agency, the team almost certainly would’ve still received something in return. The NFL awards compensatory draft selections to teams that lost a big free agent in the offseason prior, and if Collins received a big contract elsewhere in 2017, it could’ve netted the Patriots as much as a third-round pick in 2018.

But that was an “if,” and it would have depended on Collins staying healthy and other teams being willing to pay the linebacker big money. That was the likely scenario, but even if things worked out that way, the Patriots would have to wait until the 2018 NFL Draft to get rewarded with a pick for Collins.

By trading with the Browns, the Patriots have an extra pick to work with right now and, considering Belichick’s history, it wouldn’t be surprising if he flipped it in another trade.

It’s also worth noting that a third-round pick from the Browns will certainly be at the top of the third round, while a compensatory selection would have been at the very tail end of the round. The more-than-30-pick difference can be significant when the talent begins to dwindle on the second day of the NFL Draft.

Ultimately, the Patriots elected to finish a 7-1 season without one of the key defensive cogs that got them there. If the team felt like he was an important piece that was needed to win Super Bowl LI, he’d still be in New England, but the team decided he was replaceable.

Filling that role could be Elandon Roberts, a sixth-round rookie who was forced to start when Collins was dealing with a hip injury, and impressed in the role. Also a possibility is Kyle Van Noy, a starter with the Detroit Lions who was traded to the Patriots last week.

But the Patriots are a team that hasn’t had much trouble replacing linebackers in the past. Jerod Mayo surprisingly announced his retirement in February and the Patriots didn’t miss a beat, and the team had no issue replacing Brandon Spikes when he left to join the Buffalo Bills in free agency in 2014.

With the Patriots confident in players like Roberts and Van Noy being capable starters in Collins’ place, it makes sense that the team would avoid the hassle of a negotiation with a player asking for far too much.

Even if New England allowed Collins to walk away after keeping him for the duration of the season, there’s no guarantee he would’ve netted them the same kind of value and, even if he did, the team would’ve had to wait another year to use that draft pick.

Trading Collins to Cleveland was a shrewd move that reflects the way the Patriots operate. No team tinkers with its roster more and it’s hard to argue with the franchise’s results.