FOXBORO — Like most rebuilding teams, the Patriots have a game plan for Tuesday’s trade deadline that can be summed up by a single word.
Sell.
Sell, sell, sell.
But whom? And for what?
The easy answer is to deal older veterans for future draft picks that can fill out their long-term vision. But over the last few weeks, a third question has complicated the Patriots’ calculation.
How much locker-room leadership can they afford to lose?
Because cracks in Jerod Mayo’s culture began surfacing after the Pats’ lopsided loss in London, then their sixth straight, which prompted an unscheduled speech from captain Ja’Whaun Bentley days later. Like most of the Patriots’ original captains, Bentley is out of the picture. He and center David Andrews have suffered long-term, if not season-ending injuries, while Jacoby Brissett lost his starting job and Jabrill Peppers remains away from the team on the commissioner’s exempt list.
Upsetting the Jets last weekend no doubt provided some sealant for those cracks, but a bad enough loss to the 1-6 Titans this Sunday might threaten to dissolve it. At that point, Mayo will need veteran leaders to again spread his gospel in meetings and and live it on the practice field as the Patriots play out the most trying games in another losing season.
Veterans like steady-eddy cornerback Jonathan Jones, the Pats’ most valuable trade chip. Jones is the team’s longest-tenured defender, and a company man. It was Jones who spoke up after Mayo ripped the team for being soft in London, telling his teammates, essentially, to man up. It was Jones who helped them patch holes in their secondary against the Jets, playing outside cornerback, nickelback and safety.
The 31-year-old is the only adult in a position room of young corners; something that can also be said of Kendrick Bourne and the Patriots’ receivers.
Bourne, whom the front office dangled in trade talks this summer with the 49ers, might already be out the door if the Patriots were operating in an NFL vacuum. But they’re not. They’re operating with an immature group of young wideouts, where players with almost as many career catches as healthy scratches are calling for the ball, and basically everyone else is dropping it.
Bourne, who’s admitted to immaturity earlier in his career, spoke up last week. He vocalized accountability, support and a detailed vision for how young teammates like Kayshon Boutte, Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker could follow a similar path to a long NFL career (sans his own drops against the Jets).
How Patriots veteran wide receiver K.J. Osborn is handling trade rumors
So are the Patriots willing to ship out that example and, say, a seventh-round pick for a sixth-rounder, while Polk and Baker approach more playing time?
Mind you, Polk has dropped three of his last 13 targets, during which time he also declared he has the best hands in the league. Meanwhile, Baker’s played just six offensive snaps this season, during which time his offensive coordinator admitted he’s had trouble learning the playbook. Will the Patriots factor in Bourne’s guidance as an eight-year veteran under a three-year contract?
Mayo answered a version of that question Wednesday.
“We’re in the business of bringing in good players and keeping our good players. I think you bring up an interesting point as far as, like, the culture guys. I do think that’s important,” he said. “I also would say I think it’s important with the coaches as well, to bring in guys that really believe in the culture and where we’re trying to go. Definitely, we take those things into consideration.”
Well, considering “consideration” could mean a variety of things, here are four fake trades for the Patriots ahead of Tuesday’s 4 p.m. trade deadline.
Patriots trade: WR Kendrick Bourne, 2025 seventh-round pick
49ers trade: 2026 fifth-round pick
The Pats net the value of a sixth-round pick in a pick-swap trade, something the Panthers failed to do when they traded receiver Diontae Johnson to Baltimore in a similar deal Tuesday. But by asking for a fifth-round pick two offseasons out, the Patriots can make the common argument that the value of that 2026 pick is equivalent to a 2025 sixth-rounder, which works out for both sides.
The receiver-needy 49ers land a player and a pick today, while the rebuilding Patriots are happy until tomorrow to secure the best asset in this deal.
Patriots trade: WR K.J. Osborn, 2025 seventh-round pick
Chargers trade: 2025 sixth-round pick
A simpler version of the above trade with similar reasoning. The Patriots are rostering seven wideouts right now, which is at least one too many. Like Bourne, Osborn is a proven veteran. He averaged 53 catches and 615 receiving yards over his last three seasons in Minnesota before signing in New England, where his numbers by the box score and deeper metrics stink.
The Chargers don’t care, because they need a wideout and are chasing a Wild Card spot at 4-3. In this deal, the Bolts send the Patriots their original 2025 sixth-rounder back — acquired in last year’s J.C. Jackson trade — and receive what finishes as the best of the Pats’ three current seventh-round picks.
Patriots trade: CB Jonathan Jones
Vikings trade: 2026 sixth-round pick
As a 31-year-old corner in a contract year, Jones cannot promise he will play starting-caliber football much longer, no matter what team he’s playing for. But the Vikings are going for it, and defensive coordinator Brian Flores knows Jones well from his time in New England. Jones can provide depth at every position in Minnesota’s secondary, a rare plug-and-play piece from the moment he arrives.
Of note: the Vikings have only three picks next year, their first-rounder and two fifth-round picks.
Patriots trade: 2025 fifth-round pick
Commanders trade: CB Emmanuel Forbes, 2025 sixth-round pick
A 2023 first-round pick, Forbes has fallen fast from record-setting playmaking prospect to projected bust in Washington. Despite a regime change this offseason, Forbes remains buried on the Commanders’ depth chart and has barely played 100 defensive snaps. He also rated as one of the worst corners in football last year as a rookie. But …
Forbes’ best NFL game came in Foxboro last November, when he broke up three passes and allowed two catches on seven targets during a 20-17 Commanders win. In-person performances tend to leave an impression on front offices, and in New England, Forbes could put his 6-foot-1 frame and 4.35 speed to better use in the Patriots’ man-to-man-scheme. This is a buy-low opportunity for the Pats, who otherwise have a host of smaller corners around Christian Gonzalez, the only proven starter not named Jonathan Jones.
Roll the dice. Make the call.