N/S Brandin Cooks traded to Rams

I understand and respect that many Saints fans, unlike fans of most NFL teams, view the Patriots as a kindred spirit. After all, they, too have a mastermind head coach; the most accomplished in the game. They, too were unfairly targeted through capricious punishments by the league (albeit punishments which pale in comparison to those the Saints put up with). But the Patriots worship in this thread is getting a bit ridiculous. Remember, this is the same team who traded away a good, young starting quarterback for only a mid-second round pick:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Value Chart Analysis is a little different because dealing over two years with exact draft slots.<br><br>But napkin math: Patriots gave up the equivalent of an early third round pick for one year of Brandin Cooks.<br><br>Which is basically the third rounder they gave to the Saints. <a href="https://t.co/ZqTGcAc18k">https://t.co/ZqTGcAc18k</a></p>&mdash; Rich Hill (@PP_Rich_Hill) <a href="https://twitter.com/PP_Rich_Hill/status/981301898316861440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Not only did the Patriots not get to "rent" Brandin Cooks a year for free, they gave up the trade value of an early third round pick to do so. Not only is that not a steal, it is at best an even exchange. I certainly wouldn't give up an early third for one year of Brandin Cooks. We drafted Alvin Kamara early in the third! The myth of the "genius" Patriots is just that.