The Patriots traded wide receiver Brandin Cooks and a 2018 fourth round pick to the Los Angeles Rams for the 23rd overall pick and a sixth round pick.

The trade shouldn’t be a surprise. Cooks and the Patriots failed to make progress on negotiations for a new deal. The Patriots did not want to pay Cooks top ten receiver money after next season so they decided to trade him.

Here are three reasons why the Patriots traded Brandin Cooks.

1. The Patriots Didn’t Want to Extend Cooks: The Patriots did not want to commit to Cooks long term. Cooks is an unrestricted free agent after the 2018 season and is going command an annual salary of $10 million plus per season on a new deal. That is too rich for the Patriots and that is why they moved on from him.

2. Cooks Was Not a Fit Schematically: Quite frankly, Cooks didn’t fit into the Patriots offense. It wasn’t Cooks fault. It was the way Josh McDaniels and the offensive staff used him that was the problem. They exclusively used Cooks as a vertical threat. They did nothing with him in the slot or moved him around enough. It’s remarkable that Cooks caught 65 passes for 1,082 yards and 7 touchdowns playing in an offense that didn’t put him in position to make plays all the time.

3. The Opportunity to Add Another First Round Pick: The Patriots now have two first round picks and two second round picks in the 2018 draft. Possessing the 23rd and 31st overall picks in this draft gives the Patriots the flexibility to fill several needs, most notably left tackle, linebacker and cornerback.

Bill Belichick likes to turn the roster over and get younger. Two first round picks give Belichick the flexibility to maneuver around the board and add one to two impact players.

Belichick felt that it was more important to get younger and bring in players who the team can control for five years or more. Trading Cooks allows him to do that. Long term, the Patriots will be better off as result of this trade.