Patriots got calls on players like Uche and Dugger, but stand pat at NFL trade deadline
FOXBORO -- Tuesday's NFL trade deadline came and went without the 2-6 New England Patriots making a move. They were neither buyers nor sellers.
They are just a 2-6 team that let the deadline come and go.
There was some speculation that the Pats would be sellers, turning some soon-to-be free agents for future draft picks. And New England received calls for some of those players, but Bill Belichick opted to hang on to what he has.
Teams reached out to the Patriots about players Josh Uche, Kyle Dugger, and Mike Onwenu -- all of whom will need new contracts after the season -- according to The MMQB's Albert Breer. They chose to keep them all.
Breer added that no one gave New England a call about quarterback Mac Jones or veteran running back Ezekiel Elliott.
The Patriots listened, but are hanging on to young contract-year guys Josh Uche, Kyle Dugger and Mike Onwenu. Also, I'm told they never got any calls on QB Mac Jones or RB Zeke Elliott.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) October 31, 2023
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport piggybacked on the report, adding that the Patriots weren't close to making any moves.
The Pats weren't even buyers, potentially adding to a wide receiving corps that just lost leading pass-catcher Kendrick Bourne for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. But that was not in the cards, either.
It appears Belichick is content on letting this team play out the season and will then regroup in the offseason. The Patriots will have a lot of cap space to work with in 2024 and should be able to bring back whichever free agents they want.
Considering they held on to the likes of Uche, Dugger, and Onwenu, it will now be up to Belichick to actually pay them when they're due for new contracts.