Should the Patriots buy at the deadline? Curran and Perry discuss originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The NFL trade market is heating up with the deadline three weeks away.
Two blockbuster deals involving star wide receivers were made in the AFC East on Tuesday. The New York Jets acquired Davante Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders and the Buffalo Bills responded by getting Amari Cooper from the Cleveland Browns.
Currently 1-5 on the season, the New England Patriots aren’t expected to keep up in the AFC East arms race. But as they look to build around their promising young quarterback Drake Maye, improving the roster via trades might make more sense than relying on the free-agent market next spring.
Wide receiver and offensive line are the most glaring needs on the Patriots roster with the deadline looming. Should Eliot Wolf and Co. address those positions ahead of the Nov. 5 deadline? Our Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry discussed the topic on the latest edition of the Patriots Talk Podcast.
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“Teams understand how important those guys are and how important it is to have a healthy ecosystem offensively for long periods of time so that you can grow together, you can develop and you can actually contend year over year,” Perry said. “Doesn’t that mean the Patriots should be looking for trades, maybe even now?
“It sounds weird because you would not consider a 1-5 team a team that should be buying in any way, shape, or form when it comes to the trade market. But if you’re thinking about the future, do you not look to give up some draft capital? Which hurts. You’re rebuilding and the draft picks help. But if you want to make sure that you’ve got a real player that can come in right away and help Drake Maye, and maximize what you have in Drake Maye for the next couple years before you – you hope – are trying to extend him on a big-money deal, they should be looking to make deals ASAP.””
Barring any surprises, the Patriots will have a premium first-round draft pick for the second straight year. Curran believes after taking their franchise QB third overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, it’s time for New England to consider dangling their 2025 first-rounder in potential deals.
“Maybe not now, but they should be looking at what they’re going to do with their top-five pick and say, ‘OK, this ends up being one, two, or three again, this is the time we trade down. We’ve got our quarterback, somebody else is gonna want something specific, now we can trade down,'” Curran said. “And that gives them artillery to trade around the league.”
Also in the episode:
