While it may be foolish to predict which direction a team might take at the NFL trade deadline, with a 2-7 record and an inside track on the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft, it wouldn’t be It’s no surprise that the Patriots will be sellers as Tuesday afternoon’s deadline approaches.
Over the past week, head coach Jerod Mayo has been reluctant to discuss trade hypotheticals involving his team, saying much of the talk has been “absurd” and “frustrating” to deal with.
“To me, it’s stupid,” Mayo told Scott Zolak during a pregame radio interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub on Sunday. “A lot of this stuff is nonsense. It’s sometimes frustrating because we always want to be very transparent with the player and let them know; they hear it.
“If a report is absolutely 100 percent false and you have to discuss it with that person, it just takes more time and more space.”
Given how things have gone during the season, it was notable that wide receiver KJ Osborn was noticeably healthy against the Titans. And even though fellow rookie Tyquan Thornton was on the injury report in the days leading up to last weekend’s game, the decision to make him inactive could be a sign that the pass catcher is on the trade market.
On Monday, Mayo said making Osborn a good scratch against Tennessee was a personal decision, saying the coaching staff’s job was to “put in the players that we think are going to help us win this match.” The head coach praised Osborn for his “energy” on the sideline during Sunday’s game, particularly regarding his reaction after a DeMario Douglas catch in the third quarter.
“A guy like that, it’s all about the team,” Mayo said of Osborn, who had seven catches for 57 yards in six games. “It’s not about him as an individual. And we need more people like him.
It will be a challenge to figure out how general manager Eliot Wolf might negotiate his first trade deadline as head of the Patriots, but it’s worth noting that he hasn’t been shy about trading away potentially impactful defensive players. In August, it dealt pass rusher Matthew Judon to Atlanta for a 2025 third-round pick. And late last month, New England traded outside linebacker Joshua Uche, sending him to Kansas City for a pick sixth round in 2026.
Moving forward, other defensive veterans whose names have been linked to a possible trade include veteran cornerback Jonathan Jones and safety Kyle Dugger.
Last month, Jones was asked about his mindset as the trade deadline approached. One of the final links in the Patriots’ victory in Super Bowl LIII, he was philosophical about what the future might hold.
“Control what you can control,” he said. “I show up to work every day, I just try to do the same thing, the same thing I’ve always done. Whatever happens, happens. I love going to work and playing football.
“The guys there understand professional football and they understand this time of year,” Mayo said in late October. “From our perspective as an organization, we’re always trying to improve, whether it’s attracting players or adding players through subtraction. We need to look both in the short term and also in the long term.
Christopher Price can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him @cpriceglobe.
