Making sense of the Patriots’ lack of moves at the NFL trade deadline originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Several New England Patriots players were subject of trade rumors over the past few weeks, but Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline has finally passed without the AFC East franchise making any major moves.
The Patriots had the advantage on Josh Uche at the Kansas City Chiefs last week in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round pick. This was New England’s only trade in the weeks leading up to the deadline.
Players such as defensive tackle Davon Godchaux, cornerback Jonathan Jones and receivers Tyquan Thornton, Kendrick Bourne and KJ Osborn all remained with the Patriots until the 4 p.m. ET deadline.
Aside from the Uche deal, the Patriots didn’t really buy or sell at the trade deadline. Does NBC Sports Boston Patriots insider Tom E. Curran approve of what the team did?
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“Generally speaking, because they have KJ Osborn, who was a tradeable asset and drew some interest. The Patriots haven’t been able to use him much. I don’t know if he’s a player that anyone in the league would like. “Wow, he’s going to push us over the top.” He’d be more of a depth piece elsewhere,” Curran said Tuesday. Rapid inclinesas seen in the video above.
“Tyquan Thornton, he fell by the wayside. He would have been a player the Patriots could have moved too. 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 these players are concerned, there is a level of professionalism and veteran leadership that the team needs. So I understand why they haven’t acted. But like I said, you have to start. look, if you’re the Patriots, for every opportunity to add, add, add.
Curran’s argument regarding the leadership factor is apt. 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’re trading away key contributors with about half the season left to play.
The Patriots’ lack of activity before the trade deadline makes the upcoming offseason even more important.
New England now has nine picks in the 2025 NFL Draftincluding two third-round selections. They have plenty of ammo to move up or down in the draft order. The Patriots are also expected to have about $130 million in salary cap space for free agency, according to Above the ceiling.
The good news for the Patriots is that they have likely 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 offensive line talent and skilled positions this offseason.
Check out the full episode of Rapid inclines in the video below or on YouTube.
