3 thoughts on the Patriots, the NFL trade deadline, and wide receivers
The New England Patriots didn’t made any moves on the day of the 2024 NFL trade deadline. What does that mean for the team now and in the future?
On Tuesday, the 2024 NFL trade deadline passed without the New England Patriots making a major move. In the end, their only move of this year’s trade deadline period was dealing linebacker Joshua Uche to the Kansas City Chiefs last week.
Although the team didn’t make any moves over the last week, there’s still plenty to talk about coming away from Eliot Wolf’s first trade deadline as executive vice president of player personnel, and simply happenings league-wide. Big-picture, three observations stand out.
First off, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that the Patriots’ didn’t make a trade involving a starting-caliber player – whether it’s trading for a player or trading such a player away.
When it comes to trading for such a player, there were reports the Patriots were “monitoring the trade market to potentially add talent at wide receiver, defensive tackle, or offensive tackle.” For the most part, players at two of those positions didn’t move. There were multiple wide receivers that were traded, but they were older players going to contending teams.
On the other side, the Patriots aren’t in a place where they can afford to be giving up talent right now. The ‘tank’ part of the rebuild should be over. Players like Kendrick Bourne, Kyle Dugger, and Davon Godchaux who were rumored to have interest may not be superstars, but they’re players that can be a part of the roster build going forwards.
That brings us to the second takeaway – the players who won’t be part of that long-term rebuild. Uche was in that category and the team was able to move him, but didn’t end up trading one of (or both of) their depth veteran wide receivers in K.J. Osborn and Tyquan Thornton.
Osborn in particular stands out as a player who the team had a chance to move. There were reports over the past few days that teams were interested in him, and his past success in Minnesota likely had teams with more talent at the top of their depth charts viewing him as a potential secondary option to boost their receiving rooms.
The return for Osborn or Thornton probably wouldn’t have been overwhelming. Based on the way the wide receiver went in previous days (outside of a massive overpay by the Dallas Cowboys), they likely would have been looking at a late Day 3 pick or pick swap.
Still, neither of those players should be in the Patriots’ plans beyond this year. ESPN’s Mike Reiss even reported last Sunday that the team could release Osborn in the event he wasn’t traded, due to the lack of snaps available as they try to get their younger receivers more involved.
Not moving a player or two who has no role on the current roster, and likely won’t be back with the team next year, could go down as a major missed opportunity for the Patriots. It’s not that a single sixth-round pick is likely to turn into a star player, but having that asset as a trade chip would only increase the team’s flexibility this offseason. Plus, if Osborn and/or Thornton aren’t released and relegated to limited roles, it could create more turmoil in a wide receiver room that has already had its issues with moral and buy-in this year.
Our final thought also involves the wide receiver position – looking ahead. Two of the big name wide receivers expected to be available this spring did not move at the deadline. Tee Higgins and D.K. Metcalf remained with their respective teams. The fact ESPN’s Adam Schefter had to address Metcalf wouldn’t be moved feels notable in its own right, in regards to the current relationship between Metcalf and the Seattle Seahawks.
Higgins’ situation is more straight-forward. He’s set to become a free agent at the end of this season, and with the Bengals needing to pay other players it’s likely he ends up hitting the open market.
Metcalf is still under contract next year, but 2025 is the final year of his deal and includes no guaranteed money but a big cap hit. There’s little incentive for him or the Seahawks to have him play on the deal as it is. They could restructure, but with a rebuild potentially on the way in Seattle, does Metcalf use the situation as an opportunity to request a trade and create a bidding war when it comes to his next deal.
Had either player moved on Tuesday it most likely wouldn’t have been as a rental – any trade probably would have come with a contract extension. Instead, both should be key names in this upcoming offseason.
What’s the verdict on Wolf’s first trade deadline running the Patriots’ personnel department? He certainly could have done more – and it seems like he had the opportunity to do so. At the same time, it doesn’t look like the big move some wanted was out there to be made. In that regard it’s on to the offseason – where the Patriots still need to make a bigger splash than they did last year, regardless of what happened or didn’t happen on Tuesday.
