When you're a 2-7 football team, which is what the Patriots are as the NFL's trade deadline has come and gone, it's typically unexpected that any earth-shattering moves will be made. However, many fans and pundits alike expected Eliot Wolf and Robert Kraft to attempt to improve the team without sacrificing too much future draft capital.
But 4:00 Eastern time passed on Election Day without the Patriots doing anything to upgrade the roster. While that's not necessarily a negative thing, as you don't want to sacrifice the future for a season that's likely going to end with New England missing the playoffs, you want to show quarterback Drake Maye, other young players, and fans alike that you're serious about upgrading the team.
While they did make a small move on Tuesday, signing guard Tyrese Robinson off Minnesota's practice squad, that didn't exactly inspire the ghost of Paul Revere to gallop through the New England night.
The best-case scenario would have been for the Patriots to add a wide receiver, but it takes two sides to make a deal, and you have to wonder if teams were asking for too much.
The Patriots' lack of trade deadline activity doesn't bode well for the rest of the season
It would've been nice to bring receiver Jakobi Myers back, but after the Raiders recently shipped Davante Adams for the Jets, I'm willing to bet it would've been expensive to bring Myers home to Foxboro. The same goes for Tee Higgins, who is playing on the franchise tag for Cinncinatti.
While New England does have the salary cap space to offer a free agent to be like Higgins an expensive contract, it's not worth potentially giving up your first-round pick. My guess is the Bengals would've required at least a second-round pick to move Higgins.
There were rumblings that K.J. Osborn, who is playing on a one-year deal, was going to be on his way out of Foxboro, with the receiver-needy Charges being a potential suitor, but that didn't happen, and Osborn will likely play out his deal in New England and move on at the end of the season. The Patriots probably would've gotten nothing more than a third-day draft pick for him anyway.
There were plenty of earth-shattering deals from contending teams, most notably Za'Darius Smth's move from the Browns to the Lions and Marshon Lattimore's move from New Orleans to Washington. The difference between the Lions, Commanders, and Patriots is that the former two teams are looking like the two best teams in the NFC, and the Patriots are thinking about the future.
Even though New England remains miles from being a contending team, that doesn't mean you don't take steps during the season to improve your team. Understandably, Wolf wants to hold on to draft picks and other assets, and New England wasn't going to move homegrown pieces such as safety Kyle Dugger.
But improving the team, even during a lost season, sends a message to Maye and prospective free agents that the Patriots are serious about taking the proper steps to become contenders again.
For all the talk that Wolf has made about "weaponizing the offense," what has he done to help out Maye? Wolf certainly didn't do that at the trade deadline, and he'll need to be aggressive next offseason, both in the draft and in free agency.