Patriots Rumors: Phillip Dorsett drew trade interest from Houston Texans
Recent New England Patriots rumors involved wide receiver Phillip Dorsett, who reportedly drew interest from the Houston Texans leading up to the trade deadline.
Leading up to the NFL Trade Deadline, there were plenty of New England Patriots rumors. New England played on Monday night against the Buffalo Bills, limiting their time leading up to the deadline.
Despite that, they were mentioned in a number of rumors. The Patriots checked in on former linebacker Jamie Collins, whom they traded to the Cleveland Browns in 2016. No trade materialized, as Collins remains in Cleveland.
New England was also linked to multiple wide receivers in Demaryius Thomas of the Denver Broncos and Golden Tate of the Detroit Lions.
Both Thomas and Tate ended up being traded, but neither landed in New England. Thomas was traded to the Houston Texans, while Tate landed with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Those were not the only wide receivers that the Patriots had trade discussions about. According to Jeff Howe of The Athletic Boston, the Houston Texans checked in on Phillip Dorsett.
The Texans have called about Phillip Dorsett but it doesn’t sound like there’s been much progress on the trade front to this point, per source.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) October 30, 2018
Now, we know the reason for the Texans and Patriots not making much progress was because Houston was also working on a deal for Thomas. In the deal for Thomas, the Texans also received a seventh-round pick, sending a fourth-round pick and seventh-round pick back to Denver.
More from Musket Fire
- What trading Mac Jones during the draft can do for the Patriots
- Best and worst draft picks during the Bill Belichick era
- Early round Patriots draft picks you’ll hate now, love later
- Musket Fire Roundup: Our own final predictions for round 1
- Breaking down the Patriots’ options in the 2023 NFL Draft
Thomas will help fill the void left by Will Fuller, who tore his ACL on Thursday Night Football and will be out the remainder of the season. Even with Thomas on board, it made sense that the Texans would still be checking in on Dorsett.
Houston is razor thin at wide receiver even with Thomas. DeAndre Hopkins and rookie Keke Coutee are the only other receivers to make any significant impact this season.
New England decided to stay pat at the trade deadline, however. Instead of potentially having a role with the Texans, Dorsett will continue functioning as depth for the Patriots.
Dorsett has fallen way down the pecking order for targets with Josh Gordon becoming acclimated with the team and Julian Edelman returning from suspension. Those two players, along with Chris Hogan, Rob Gronkowski and James White are all ahead of Dorsett.
Next. 30 Greatest Players In Patriots History. dark
Holding onto Dorsett makes sense for New England. He showed earlier in the season he can fill in if needed and provides the team with a great insurance policy in case injuries strike again.