AFC East teams add offensive firepower with Tuesday trades
The New England Patriots’ schedule got a little bit tougher on Tuesday, with two AFC East foes making moves for wide receivers.
Through six weeks, the New England Patriots have the 23rd ranked pass defense in the NFL. The team has already faced some of the tougher passing attacks on its schedule this year like the Bengals, Seahawks, and Texans, but on Tuesday three of their future matchups got a bit tougher thanks to a pair of trades made by their AFC East opponents.
The day started with the New York Jets – fresh off of a 23-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football – acquiring Davante Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter the Jets will send a conditional third-round pick back to Las Vegas, with the pick becoming a second-rounder if Adams is named to either AP All-Pro team or if he’s on the active roster for the AFC Championship Game or the Super Bowl.
Adams, 31, had requested a trade from the Raiders earlier this month after catching 18 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown over the first three games of the season (he’s been out since due to a hamstring injury). He was reportedly looking to reunite with one of his former quarterbacks – either with Aaron Rodgers in New York or with Derek Carr in New Orleans. Adams and Rodgers spent eight years together in Green Bay before Adams was traded prior to the 2022 season.
This move game less than 12 hours after the Jets fell to 2-4 with a 23-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. While the team posted a season-high 272 passing yards in they’ve struggled on offense overall in Rodgers’ first full season, ranking 25th in passing and 22nd in scoring. The Jets’ previous season high in passing yards came against the Patriots, with a 267-yard performance on Thursday Night Football in Week 3.
It won’t be long until the Patriots see this revamped Jets offense with Adams. The Patriots host the Jets in two weeks, in their first game after facing the Jacksonville Jaguars in London this Sunday.
Adams wasn’t the only star wide receiver added to an AFC East roster on Tuesday though. Just a few hours later, the Buffalo Bills acquired Amari Cooper from the Cleveland Browns. The full deal includes Cooper and a 2025 sixth-round pick going to Buffalo, with a 2025 third-round pick and 2026 seventh-round pick back to Cleveland.
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This past offseason, the Bills lost their top two receivers from 2023 in Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. Second-round draft pick Keon Coleman and free agent signing Mack Hollins haven’t been producing at the same level, especially the past few weeks. After a softer start to their schedule the Bills have averaged just 163.3 pass yards per game over the past three games against the Ravens, Texans, and Bills, going 1-2.
Cooper will likely help the Bills get going back in the right direction throwing the football. The 30-year-old is coming off of a 1,250 yard season last year, and in six games this season has caught 24 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns.
The Patriots still have two meetings with the Bills ahead on their schedule. Those will be at the end of the year, in Weeks 16 (in Buffalo) and 18 (in New England).
These moves set up more tests for second-year cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who is coming off of a down week against the Texans but has still been one of the Patriots’ bright spots this year. Through six games he’s played 240 coverage snaps, allowing 26 catches on 44 targets for 209 yards. He’s allowed two touchdowns and intercepted two passes, while breaking up a third. Opposing quarterbacks currently have a 76.8 passer rating when targeting Gonzalez.
With these other AFC East teams adding at receiver, some fans may be wondering if the Patriots got involved, and if not why not. It’s a fair question, but right now those teams are in better position to make such moves.
For one, both receivers are coming from teams with questionable quarterback play. More certainty at that position was something Adams was reportedly looking for, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Cooper was as well.
Both are positioned to need new contracts this offseason as well. (Cooper is a pending free agent, while Adams has no guaranteed money on his deal beyond this year). Given that having someone reliable throw them the ball was likely a priority.
In multiple ways, that made such deals unrealistic for the Patriots. While Drake Maye was impressive on Sunday, he’s still a relative unknown. There’s no guarantee the Patriots would have been able to retain either player, which would make the asking price of a Day 2 pick unrealistic.
The Patriots have been aggressive in pursuing top of the depth chart veteran wide receivers in recent months, such as Calvin Ridley and Brandon Aiyuk. They likely aren’t done with trying to add such a player all-together, and will have more opportunities to do so this upcoming offseason when such a move should be easier (due to contract structuring, draft picks having set values, and Maye becoming more of a known commodity). For now though, it’s their AFC East opponents making the splash additions.