Patriots: 3 players that must be targeted to help playoff push before trade deadline
By Mike Luciano
The New England Patriots are starting to fade out of the postseason picture, as Bill Belichick and Mac Jones have lost a few nail-biters to start off the 2021 season … with two of their three wins coming against the lowly New York Jets. The trade-centric Patriots rumors are in full force once again and it’s no secret upgrades need to be made.
The secondary is not as good as it was last year, the pass rush could use one more difference-maker, and Jones could stand to benefit from one more quality pass catcher.
The Patriots have shown a willingness to trade away mid-round picks if it means they can add a potential game-changer, and they might need to do that if they want to snag one of the last playoff spots in the AFC. With so many solid players stuck on bad teams, the market won’t be short on options. There will be an opportunity to improve.
The Patriots need to give one of these three teams a call in the name of prying one of their better players away from them. It might take some uncharacteristic risk from Belichick and this organization to get some of these deals done, but with New England still very clearly far behind the Bills, they need to move out of their comfort zone in some capacity.
3 players the Patriots must target at the trade deadline.
3. DE Trey Flowers
Flowers made his name as another mid-round draft choice that started to really find his groove as a member of the Patriots. As Belichick so often does, he decided to let him join a former assistant (Matt Patricia with Detroit, in this case) on a hefty contract. Unfortunately, Flowers hasn’t produced like an elite defensive end.
In just 24 games with the Lions, Flowers has 10.5 sacks, including 3.5 sacks in the last two seasons. That production looks alarming, but Belichick might be able to get him back on the right track, all while taking some of the pressure off of another high-priced free agent in Matt Judon.
Could Trey Flowers return to the Patriots?
Belichick is the king of getting back players who failed after signing contracts elsewhere. Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins are already back on this defense, and offensive players like Brandon Bolden have come crawling back. Why can’t Flowers revitalize his career by joining the Patriots?
Considering his humungous contract, the Patriots will need to move some players in order to free up space, but considering how Belichick is running the exact same scheme that turned Flowers into a quality defensive end, the idea of a reunion with the former Arkansas stud could make sense if they have the flexibility to take him on.