The New England Patriots are widely expected to make some moves ahead of the NFL trade deadline, but is it possible the Patriots could ultimately stand pat?
That’s what head coach Jerod Mayo insinuated ahead of the Tuesday deadline.
During an appearance on WEEI, Mayo kind of threw a wet blanket on all of the trade talk, which will surely have New England fans raising their eyebrows.
“I think first, this isn’t baseball. In baseball you have big-name players going to other teams,” Mayo said. “I would say, historically, even as a player and now as a coach, the trade deadline is a bunch of hype. Who’s going to move a starting quarterback to another team right now? Who’s going to move a starting left tackle? I mean, it rarely happens.”
Mayo is right in saying that superstar players rarely move at the trade deadline, but here is the thing: no one truly expects the best guys in the league to get dealt.
No one is sitting there wondering, “Will the Chiefs trade Patrick Mahomes?” It’s more about contenders picking up complementary players for the stretch run and rebuilding teams acquiring draft capital for the future.
The Pats certainly sit in the latter category. They have a plethora of players on their roster that could realistically get traded before the deadline comes to a close. As a matter of fact, the Patriots have a bunch of players they should be looking to trade.
Let’s face it: New England is just 2-7 and is in rebuilding mode. The Pats aren’t ready to win now, and they probably aren’t going to be prepared to win in 2025, either.
That means trading some of their wide receivers and defensive players would probably be the smart thing to do in order to best establish your direction.
And heck, the Pats have already sent Josh Uche packing.
We’ll see what happens.