Making sense of Patriots’ lack of NFL trade deadline day moves originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Several New England Patriots players were the subject of trade rumors over the last few weeks, but Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline ultimately came and went without the AFC East franchise making any major moves.
The Patriots dealt edge rusher Josh Uche to the Kansas City Chiefs last week in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick. That was New England’s only trade in the weeks leading up to the deadline.
Players such as defensive tackle Davon Godchaux, cornerback Jon Jones, and wide receivers Tyquan Thornton, Kendrick Bourne and K.J. Osborn all stayed with the Patriots through the 4 p.m. ET deadline.
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Aside from the Uche deal, the Patriots didn’t really buy or sell at the trade deadline. Does NBC Sports Boston’s Patriots insider Tom E. Curran approve of what the team did?
“Generally speaking — because they have K.J. Osborn, who was a tradeable asset and did draw some interest. The Patriots haven’t been able to use him much. I don’t know if he is a player that anybody around the league would say, ‘Wow, he’s gonna push us over the top.’ He’d be more of a depth piece anyplace else,” Curran said Tuesday on Quick Slants, as seen in the video above.
“Tyquan Thornton, he’s fallen into disuse. He’d be a player the Patriots could have moved as well. But as far as Kendrick Bourne and Davon Godchaux or any other player — and Kyle Dugger was never on the table — but as far as those players go, there is a level of professionalism and veteran leadership the team needs. So I understand why they didn’t make their moves. But as I said, you gotta start looking, if you’re the Patriots, for every opportunity to add, add, add.”
Curran’s point about the leadership factor is a good one. The Patriots have a lot of young players at key positions, and having good leaders like Jones and Godchaux on the roster is important. New England also needs to start building a winning culture. That’s hard to do if you trade away key contributors with about half the season still to play.
The Patriots’ lack of activity before the trade deadline puts an even greater importance on the upcoming offseason.
New England now has nine picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, including two third-round selections. They have plenty of ammo to move up or down in the draft order. The Patriots also are projected to have around $130 million in salary cap space for free agency, per OverTheCap.
The good news for the Patriots is they probably have found their quarterback of the future in Drake Maye. He’s only started four games, which is obviously a small sample size, but his performance so far has been encouraging. Now it’s up to Eliot Wolf and the rest of the Patriots front office to surround Maye with more talent on the offensive line and the skill positions in the offseason.
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