Tuesday at 4 p.m. is the NFL trade deadline, which can be very unpredictable.
There was the Von Miller trade Monday, but other than that there haven’t been any other deals, or even rumors for that matter. Many believe since so many teams remain in the mix for the playoffs and do not have much salary cap space to work with, there won’t be much action around the league.
But, that could change at any moment.
“We’ve had situations where it’s 2 o’clock on Tuesday afternoon, something comes up, and you end up doing it,” Bill Belichick said Monday. “We’ll see what happens.”
Here are some Patriots-related thoughts as the deadline approaches.
— For starters, the Patriots are one of the teams who do not have a lot of cap space to work with. As of now, they have roughly $3 million, which certainly limits which players they could potentially trade for.
— Positions that could be upgraded include cornerback, wide receiver, running back and linebacker. But given salary cap limitations, it just doesn’t feel like a trade is coming. Also, just a few weeks ago the Patriots traded away 2019 Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore, so wouldn’t it be bad optics if New England traded for a player who wouldn’t come close to Gilmore’s talent?
— As it relates to the cornerback position, rookie Shaun Wade, who was acquired via trade at the end of training camp, returned to practice last week from a concussion. Since he hasn’t appeared in a game this year, he could be viewed as a deadline addition of sorts. Also, the team just signed veteran cornerbacks Brian Poole and De’Vante Bausby to the practice squad. They could be elevated to the active roster a maximum of two times each.
— It’s hard to see wide receiver being able to be addressed since what’s lacking at the position is a true No. 1 target. It’s likely no team is going to trade away its best receiver at the deadline and then a top receiver is going to be out of the Patriots’ price range.
— If, and it’s a bit if, a trade does get made, linebacker or running back seem like the most likely targets. These are two of the cheapest positions and teams could be so deep at both these spots that it wouldn’t hurt too much if one is traded away.
— It’s also possible that the Patriots could trade away a player of their own, but it’s hard to envision this being a real scenario.
— With all that being said, as of Monday night, we would put a potential trade at under 20%.
