Aside from the Mankins trade angle, the Tim Wright thing is a little curious. For a stretch there around the middle of the season, he was a staple of the goal line offense. Six TDs is nothing to sneeze at. It looked like his role was going to take off and expand. Thereafter, Amendola's role increased, and Wright's went to almost zero.
How Wright's star in NE rapidly declined last season is one of the stories I look forward to reading one day. Not that it's high on the list of open questions. But it's there.
With Chandler, Davis and HooMan all behind Gronk, it's not at all surprising to see Wright gone.