3 trades the Patriots should avoid as the trade deadline nears

Trading away Kyle Dugger

As another one of the more valued players on the Patriots 2023 team, Kyle Dugger has been a name floating around trade speculation over the last month or so. Because of his rise to stardom since he was drafted in 2020 and his positional versatility, teams will inevitably be calling to inquire about a possible trade.

The problem with that is there's likely no other team in the league that will value all that Dugger can bring to a defense more than Belichick and the Patriots.

His consistency and reliability have become just a couple of his most valuable skills, and he has played a large part in bridging the gap in the secondary after Devin McCourty retired during the offseason. That will become even more critical as the season continues after Christian Gonzalez went down with a season-ending injury a few weeks ago.

One issue that makes it seem Dugger may be more expendable in the eyes of Belichick is his lack of urgency to re-sign the safety to a contract extension. He's playing on the final year of his rookie contract this year, and there has been basically no conversation about retaining him at all, not even rumors from insiders or reporters.

If that indicates their interest level in keeping him as a Patriot, then he likely will be dealt. But it doesn't feel like a good decision for the future of the team.