Pats don’t score at deadline
Lack of depth move could prove costly
The Patriots are never afraid to jump in during the NFL trade deadline and acquire those few missing pieces to help put them over the top.
Whether adding Aqib Talib, Akeem Ayers, Akiem Hicks or Kyle Van Noy, they have made a point of plugging the holes and taking care of any depth issues. Not this time.
The deadline came and went yesterday with the Patriots taking a pass. Tom Brady got no help. The defense also moves on without much-needed reinforcements.
Sure, the 6-2 Patriots appear to be in good shape to make it back to the Super Bowl. But they are playing with fire given their lack of depth at key positions.
Specifically, they’re rolling the dice counting on their top weapons on offense to make it to Atlanta. Sony Michel, Josh Gordon and Rob Gronkowski just aren’t reliable from week to week. They can’t be penciled in every week and that’s vital in this offense-charged climate of the NFL.
Michel?
His knee issues aren’t going to disappear once he returns. Perhaps you can get away with having Cordarrelle Patterson as the lead back against Buffalo. That’s not going to cut it in January. Gordon?
Has he been tardy, and was he supposed to face discipline? Bill Belichick continues to deflect the item in question, directing everyone to the reporter who broke the news.
Bottom line: the Patriots are working with Gordon and doing their best to help keep him in line and in check. But he remains a gamble.
He has 17 catches for 266 yards and a touchdown in five games. His contributions haven’t been insignificant. He draws the lead cornerback. If he lapses, do they have a legitimate boundary threat who dictates coverage?
Then there’s Gronk, who doesn’t seem like Gronk. He missed last Sunday’s game in Chicago with back spasms. They truly have no one to come close to replicating what he does. In Super Bowl LI, they won without Gronkowski because they had Martellus Bennett.
Once again, this is an offense-driven league. To advance in the AFC, it looks like the Patriots will have to outscore the Chiefs, and possibly the Chargers or Steelers. Maybe weather comes into play in the winter months, but none of these teams boast top-line defenses.
Now, the Patriots were active and did make calls all over. They reportedly were close to landing Denver receiver Demaryius Thomas, but lost out to the Texans, who surrendered a fourthround pick.
Thomas made sense from the perspective he was in Denver when Josh McDaniels was the head coach, so he would be familiar with the system. The Pats also were rumored to have interest in Golden Tate, but the Lions slot receiver went to the Eagles for a third-round pick.
Brady, speaking recently on Westwood One about rumors the Pats were in the receiver market, welcomed that notion.
“I think any time you can improve your team, you owe it to your team to do that,” Brady said. “I think we’re trying obviously to improve like always. We’ve made a lot of trades at the deadline over the years. Coach Belichick makes all those decisions, he explores any opportunity that he thinks can help us, whether it’s on the offensive side or defensive side of the ball. We’re always looking for good players, so however that ends up, that’s up to coach Belichick to decide.”
The defense could have used the usual addition of a role player here or there, whether it was a coverage linebacker, hybrid safety or pass rusher. The deals just weren’t there, or just weren’t to the Patriots liking. They weren’t operating with much cap space this time around, although that can be negotiated.
It’s just hard to think they’re going to have enough depth at those skill positions on offense. It’s not a huge problem now, but it might be when it matters most. And offense is what you’re going to need it come January.