As the New England Patriots prepare for Sunday’s road game against the Tennessee Titans, the attention will be dominated by their quest for a fourth straight victory, and head coach Mike Vrabel’s first game against the franchise that fired him after six seasons in 2024.
With the NFL trade deadline now just a few weeks away, Patriots fans should also be keeping tabs on an AFC rival who will be idle in Week 7.
The Baltimore Ravens have a bye this week, and it came at the perfect time. At 1-5, the Ravens will enter late October with their backs against the wall and zero room for error. Quarterback Lamar Jackson, out for the past two games with a hamstring injury, is expected to return in Week 8 against the Chicago Bears; their schedule stiffens from there with three consecutive road games.
Should the Ravens continue to stumble, they could find themselves in a rare spot during the John Harbaugh era — selling at the trade deadline with an eye on starting over in 2026.
One of the marquee players on their roster has a direct tie to Vrabel, and the buzz among Patriots fans will be impossible to ignore if the AFC standings break a certain way prior to the NFL’s Nov. 4 trade deadline.
Bill Simmons floats the one trade idea that every Patriots fan would love
During Monday’s episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons — well known locally as The Boston Sports Guy — openly tried to start a Patriots trade rumor (that actually makes a ton of sense).
With the Ravens’ season on life support, Simmons urged the Patriots to check in on running back Derrick Henry, who’s had a hard time getting going this season with Baltimore playing so often from behind.
"You know who used to work together? Derrick Henry and Mike Vrabel,” Simmons said. “They used to have a really great relationship, once upon a time. … (Ravens) lose that Bears game, and they go 1-6, why not trade Derrick Henry at that point? … Derrick Henry would be one of the most beloved veteran athletes we’ve ever had. He would just immediately be beloved.”
Simmons went a little overboard on his projected price — he joked that a second-round pick should get the Ravens’ attention, and that they should also have to take the struggling Rhamondre Stevenson off New England's books. The idea of Henry becoming a viable trade option, though, is not as outlandish as it sounds.
The Ravens just signed Henry to a two-year, $30 million extension in May, per Spotrac, but he’s had a pair of brutal lost fumbles already in 2025, including one that led to Baltimore’s late collapse to the Buffalo Bills in Week 1; he lost another in the fourth quarter of the Ravens’ tight loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 3.
If Baltimore looks to cut its losses and execute a mini rebuild this offseason, moving Henry’s $15 million in average annual salary could be on the table. With all due respect to Simmons, it likely wouldn’t cost much more than a Day 3 draft pick, as long as a team is willing to take on the remainder of Henry’s contract, which runs through 2027.
New England’s motivation here would be obvious. Not only does Vrabel have intimate knowledge of the player from their time together in Tennessee, but the Patriots’ rushing attack has been brutal so far in 2025, ranking 26th in the NFL. Stevenson and rookie TreVeyon Henderson are averaging a combined 3.3 yards per carry.
Henry has been far from his usual dominant self this season, but the 31-year-old is still averaging 5.0 yards per carry with four touchdowns on the season. His 439 rushing yards through six games basically matches what Stevenson, Henderson and QB Drake Maye have on the ground combined (443).
The Patriots’ passing offense has been elite over the last three games, but it’s hard to bank on Maye completing over 70 percent of his deep passes for an entire season. New England is going to need to find some answers in the run game, and whether it’s a blockbuster move for Henry or Breece Hall, or a more low-key trade for a player like Tony Pollard, Patriots fans should be on high alert this year as the deadline approaches.