The talk of the trade deadline in New England continues to surround the possibility of trading away or trading for wide receivers. Because it's been a constant problem for the team over the past few years and is a weak point of this year's team, many names are being thrown around to potentially be trade targets ahead of Tuesday's deadline.
Besides the rumored interest to move on from K.J. Osborn, the Patriots have long been connected to Seahawks receiver D.K. Metcalf. He was a player Bill Belichick infamously passed on during the 2019 NFL Draft, among other names like A.J. Brown and Deebo Samuel, and instead chose to pick N'Keal Harry.
We know how that ended, and Harry has since bounced around teams in hopes of reviving a career in the NFL.
To right that former wrong, many Patriots fans were hoping they could somehow manage a trade for Metcalf ahead of Tuesday's deadline, but that dream is now DOA, as the Seahawks have declared him unavailable for trade this season.
Despite any speculation, the Seahawks will not be trading wide receiver D.K. Metcalf by today’s 4 pm trade deadline. pic.twitter.com/3NRVC3O1eS
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 5, 2024
While it's not exactly shocking, given how important he is to their offense in Seattle, it's a disappointing update as Metcalf has been a dream addiition to the Patriots for the past few years. He would be an immediate WR1 for the receiving corps, but it might be for the best that he won't be moved today.
He would likely only be traded for a hefty price, especially since he has a contract to match. That would require the Patriots to change their roster-building philosophy since they hope to add as many picks as possible and create their team through the draft, and giving up a ton of capital for Metcalf wouldn't allow them to accomplish that.
At the same time, however, their wide receiver room could benefit from a player of Metcalf's caliber, whether it's him or someone else. He would hog the attention of opposing defenses and allow Drake Maye to utilize other players to move the chains while also giving him a reliable and impressive target to work with.
Because he's now off the table, the Patriots will have to look elsewhere, probably during free agency next spring. They'll need to do all they can to bring in a Melcalf-like player to help Maye in the long-term, and hopefully, they'll do that sooner rather than later.