Patriots Mailbag: Reacting to the trade deadline

The 2025 NFL trade deadline has come and gone, without any additions for the New England Patriots. After trading away defensive lineman Keion White and safety Kyle Dugger last week, the Patriots stood pat with what they have.

With the team at 7-2, that drew plenty of reactions. Some more leveled, reasonable takes and some furious ones as well. For this week's Patriots Mailbag we'll sort through all of it, plus some other questions as well as the halfway point of the season passes by. Let's get started...

So, this question represents my big takeaway from this trade deadline season. I really wasn't expecting any sort of big swing, and typically starting caliber players do not come available this time of year. The few that did this year were not at positions of need for the Patriots, and/or would have required in-division trades.

But after trading away White and Dugger last week it seemed like the Patriots were setting up to re-set their depth with players acquired by the new decision makers. In particular, running back, edge rusher, and safety seemed like logical, acquirable targets.

However, those moves never came. A few players that may have fit the type of deal the Patriots were reportedly looking to make did move, including Joe Tryon-Shoyinka (to the Bears), and Dre'Mont Jones (to the Ravens) on the edge and Logan Wilson (to the Cowboys) at linebacker. Running back and safety didn't see any comparable players traded.

On Jones, it's worth noting that Mike Giardi of Boston Sports Journal reported earlier in the day that the Titans "might be unwilling to make deals with New England" due to ownership still being unhappy about how things ended with Vrabel. Other potential Patriots targets on the Titans included running backs Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears and edge rusher Arden Key, none of whom were traded before the deadline.

Now, depth at those positions will be a key spot to watch for the Patriots in the second half. The Patriots can't simply leave those spots unfilled, but attention now turns towards internal options. Who will the team be counting on? Let's look at a few spots.

To answer the second part first, the media really can't evaluate players in practice this time of year like in training camp. We pretty much only see stretching and one or two individual periods - not enough to get a gague on how much a player may be improving.

That being said, obviously it ultimately doesn't matter what the media sees. The coaches are getting all the looks they need at Swinson and everybody else on the roster.

So far Swinson hasn't been elevated from the practice squad even in some games where the team may have needed edge depth, so that could be telling. One of the players ahead of him was Truman Jones, who is no longer with the team, so that could move him up a spot.

The Patriots used a fifth-round pick on Swinson in April, so there's clearly something there they want to work with. Whether or not he's the next guy up is tough to say, but at this point he has to be on the short list if for no other reason than the team needing bodies at the position.

Another player to watch here is Ponder. Unlike Swinson, Ponder is on the active roster making it easier for the Patriots to get him in games. Ponder has appeared in seven games for the Patriots so far this year but mainly on special teams, with 53 total defensive snaps. In that time he's recorded three pressures, three tackles, and a run stop.

In addition to Swinson and Ponder, Caleb Murphy is another player who could end up in the mix here. The Patriots claimed him off waivers from the Chargers last month. In his third NFL season, Murphy was mainly a special teams player to start his career but had a rotational role on the Chargers' defense to start the season before getting cut. He's yet to play in a game for the Patriots.

Ultimately one of Swinson, Ponder, and Murphy will end up in a bigger role as the fourth edge rusher behind Harold Landry, K'Lavon Chaisson, and Anfernee Jennings. Could the Patriots have gotten a more known, reliable depth edge player at the deadline? It's possible, but this is who they're working with now.

Let's move on to safety, where the picture is a little less clear. After Jaylinn Hawkins and Craig Woodson, Dell Pettus is probably the backup box safety and is the only other experienced primary safety on the roster. John Saunders Jr. - who signed last week off the Dolphins' practice squad - projects as the backup free safety. After them the team does have Brenden Schooler, who occasionally plays a scheme-specific safety role but ideally wouldn't be counted on as across the board safety depth.

A player to watch is Richie Grant, who signed to the practice squad last month. Grant, 28, has 33 NFL starts under his belt from his previous four seasons with the Falcons. He's already been elevated once from the practice squad this year, which could be a sign the coaching staff has a bigger plan for him moving forward.

It's a fair question. As I mentioned above, when White and Dugger were traded last week it felt like the team may have been re-shuffling depth in order to bring in players that better fit the system at the deadline. Now, how do those trades look, revisited?

The Dugger trade still makes some sense, as the Patriots were able to get out of a big contract for a player that had really become only a backup box safety. Dugger wasn't getting much run with everybody healthy, and he'd been an odd fit as a backup since training camp.

As for White, while he also wasn't playing much he did offer strong depth at multiple spots along the defensive line. That trade does make less sense now than it did a week ago.

It's possible the Patriots planned to make trades to replace both players (or at least White, after signing two safeties in Saunders and Grant last week following the Dugger trade), but no deal materialized in the week they had to get things done. If so, last week's trades could be viewed as a risk that backfired (again, mainly the White trade).

Indeed I did. On one hand, I get it - the team is as competitive as it has been in years, and fans want to see the organization fully take advantage. Given a week ago they were trading away players seemingly to make room, it's understandable people's hopes were up to a degree.

At the same time, it is the NFL trade deadline. It's not as simple as the NBA, NHL, or MLB. In football it's harder to get players into the system mid-season, especially at certain key positions. Yes, there did end up being a rare blockbuster deal this year - the first of it's kind in a few years - but it's rare for teams to make lineup-altering moves at the NFL trade deadline if they make moves at all. The Patriots' record doesn't change that overall trend of the league.

In total, 22 players were traded from the start of October up until the deadline - less than one per team. Other AFC contenders stood pat as well including the Bills, Broncos, and Chiefs.

The Patriots were certainly in a position to do something, especially as it relates to their depth at certain spots. They didn't, and that will be something that is talked about for the rest of the season especially if their injury luck takes a turn. At the same time, I think it's shortsighted to act like the last week was a missed chance to make a franchise-altering move. As usual, that's what the offseason is for.

Alright, let's move on to some non-trade deadline questions. We'll start with Williams, who could be poised for a bigger role in the near future with Kayshon Boutte dealing with a hamstring injury.

It's definitely too early to call Williams a bust, but if Boutte is going to miss time we'll have a good chance to learn a lot about him here. Williams' lack of production is due in large part to his lack of playing time - he's only played 21% of the Patriots' offensive snaps this year and prior to filling in for Boutte last week those 101 plays were almost an even split between run plays as pass plays.

While he hasn't been on the field a lot as he's been buried behind veterans who are playing well, the idea is he should still be learning and growing behind the scenes. An expanded role would mean a more full look at his progress.

One big box Williams will need to check - he didn't have a ton of time working with Drake Maye this summer, and likely hasn't as much during the weekly regular season practices either given his role in the offense. Maye's chemistry with him isn't where it is with some of the other receivers, but with Boutte expected to at least miss practice to start this week, it'll be a good chance for the two to work together and start to hone that area of their games.

Good question. That's something Josh McDaniels would do with fullbacks in the past, so I don't think it's unreasonable to expect they'll continue to do it with Westover as well.

Putting the fullback out wide can set up swing passes and screens like you mentioned, and can also help as a pre-snap indicator to tell if the defense is in a man or zone coverage. Unlike with James Develin or Jakob Johnson Westover has a background as a tight end, so there may be some chances to add new wrinkles to that look too.