Patriots acquire Titans Akeem Ayers’ for exchange of draft picks

According to multiple reports, the New England Patriots have made a deal with the Tennessee Titans to acquire linebacker Akeem Ayers.  The deal has the Titans sending their sixth round pick in 2015 to the Patriots for Ayers and their seventh round pick.  Ayers gets a fresh start with a team that needs linebacker help as they deal with some injuries.

Last year under head coach Mike Munchak, Ayers dealt with a few injuries that impacted his ability to be effective in the Titans’ then 4-3 scheme.  Under Ken Whisenhunt and defensive coordinator Ray Horton, Ayers has been a healthy scratch often and played just 10 snaps in their 3-4 scheme.  The Patriots need someone to come in and play now, so Ayers should be able to be active on game day and make an impact.

The Patriots and Bill Belichick run a hybrid defense that can have 4-3 and 3-4 looks.  Ayers has experience in both and seems likely he would primarily be playing inside, but he could move outside as well depending on how they view him as a player.  For the Patriots, this amounts to a small flyer as they traded down a round in the 2015 NFL Draft for a body that was formerly a second round pick and could be important until they get healthy.  The Titans move up a round from the seventh to the sixth round to ship out a player they evidently had no plans on using.