Through five weeks of the season, the Patriots (3-2) are exceeding expectations for fans and pundits around the game of football, with their 23-20 upset win over the Bills in Week 5 as the exclamation point to an impressive first month-plus of the 2025 season.
With that said, New England’s offense has had problems at running back, with Rhamondre Stevenson continuing to struggle with holding on to the football and rookie TreVeyon Henderson being unable to break into the offensive game plan in a significant way.
And with news becoming official on Monday that veteran Antonio Gibson will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL, a position group once thought to be a strength of the team is now gasping for air amidst the team’s ascendance.
Will this team look to add talent to its running back room to keep the momentum rolling for its offense?
Head coach Mike Vrabel said on Wednesday that even with the Gibson injury, they’re not just focused on one position group.
“We’ll continue, I think, probably, hopefully, to look everywhere,” Vrabel said during his pre-practice press conference. “If there's somebody that we feel like could help us, whether that's at running back or any other position - but right now, nothing new to add.”
Given all the noise surrounding All-Pro wide receiver AJ Brown’s situation in Philadelphia to go along with Vrabel’s preexisting relationship with the player, fans immediately began to connect the dots between these comments from Vrabel and that precarious situation with the Eagles (4-1).
“Did someone say AJ Brown?” one commenter wrote underneath this clip on the WEEI Facebook page.
“In short term, he said Derrick Henry and AJ Brown,” wrote another commenter.
Given Henry’s tenure in Tennessee, the Ravens (1-4) running back is someone Vrabel also has a great relationship with, routinely singing the praises of the future Hall of Fame tailback any time he’s come up in conversation, calling him the Titans’ “best player” while he was head coach there in an interview with The Greg Hill Show earlier this year.
While adding Brown would help bolster a passing attack that already ranks in the top 10 in the NFL, the addition of Henry would have an immediate impact on a phase of the game that currently ranks 27th leaguewide.
The Patriots still hold a league-leading $54.6 million in cap space, according to OverTheCap.com. They could very-well stomach the cost of Brown or Henry’s contract in the coming years.
Would either team be willing to part ways with their blue chip offensive weapons, regardless of how “bad” their situations have gotten? I put “bad” in quotes for Brown - his team has one loss.
The NFL trade deadline is November 4.
Stay locked in to WEEI and WEEI.com as we continue to monitor potential additions for the Patriots as the season rolls along.
Tune in each and every Monday throughout the football season to Patriots Monday on WEEI. Head coach Mike Vrabel joins The Greg Hill Show at 6:30 a.m. ET, and quarterback Drake Maye joins WEEI Afternoons.