Patriots disappoint with trade compensation for Joshua Uche to the Chiefs

The trade rumors involving several Patriots players have taken off in recent days and as the trade deadline nears, rumors suggested they were set to be sellers rather than buyers. The names that began to circulate were unsurprising, as most had been the subject of trade rumors as early as last season, and it didn't take long for the Patriots to finally make a move.

After being a healthy scratch against the Jets on Sunday, linebacker Joshua Uche was traded to the Chiefs on Monday for a 2026 sixth-round pick.

Uche had been struggling in his return to New England this season, and it couldn't have been a worse way to perform on a prove-it deal he was given this past offseason. He headed to free agency for the first time this spring and reportedly turned down better offers to stay with the Patriots, vowing to return to his 2022 form and be the pass rusher the team needed.

Despite having a significant opportunity to do that in the wake of Matthew Judon's trade and the loss of Christian Barmore and Ja'Whaun Bentley due to injury, Uche became nearly invisible on the defense and progressively saw his snap count decrease through seven games.

That led to the decision to make him a healthy scratch in Week 8, and we saw the rise of other linebackers in his absence, like Christian Elliss, making Uche's inevitable trade just a matter of time.

It's a solid move for the Patriots, who want to put together a young and tough team, which Uche didn't perform up to that standard, but getting a measly 2026 sixth-round pick in return is beyond disappointing, especially since it's very little return for a former second rounder and does them no good in next year's draft.

It might have been wiser to explore a trade with another team that offered the same compensation but in 2025, as the defense needs massive improvements as soon as possible. Maybe there was no offer from another team, or if there was, it wasn't for next year, but given how much interest Uche was allegedly garnering from teams around the league, it's hard to imagine every offered draft pick was for 2026.

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