As the trade deadline approaches on Tuesday afternoon, there is a lot of conversation surrounding the Patriots and whether they will become big sellers before then. Because they currently sit with an unsatisfactory 2-5 record, most assume they will be willing to ship nearly anyone elsewhere to acquire a pile of draft picks.
Although that may be true, it's not necessarily the smartest thing to do right now.
Sure, gaining more draft capital is never a bad idea, especially when you're heading into a season with top-five cap space in the league and you need massive improvement to your roster. But at the same time, trading away the few valuable players you have on the team is a willingness to sacrifice almost any success the rest of the season, which doesn't fit the way Bill Belichick has done things during his coaching career.
Maybe there will be a universal change made within the organization that the higher-ups feel is required to put the team in a better position heading into the 2024 season, and trading away assets that hold value currently isn't off the table. It's been rumored that Robert Kraft hasn't been thrilled with how things have transpired this season, making the idea of massive changes to how things are done a bit less surprising.
But with that also comes moves that the team should avoid at all costs, no matter what the return is. This is just three of them.
Trading for Hunter Renfrow
One of the trades that has been whispered about this past week has been the Patriots reaching out to Josh McDaniels in Las Vegas and finally bringing long-time rumored desired receiver Hunter Renfrow to New England.
There has been an obsession with improving the receiving corps this year, which clearly makes sense, but adding a player like Renfrow and his skillset doesn't make the most sense. He wouldn't be bringing anything new to the table, nor would he be a significant upgrade over who the team currently has signed.
On top of that, because of the Raiders' offseason signing of Jakobi Meyers, the offense hasn't involved Renfrow much so far this season.
Whether it's due to McDaniels presence or not, the receiver has had a gradual decline in utilization on the team, going from 103 receptions for 1,038 yards and nine touchdowns in 2021 to 44 receptions for 403 yards and just two touchdowns in the two seasons since.
It certainly seems like Renfrow needs a change of scenery, since Meyers' impressive performance this year has seemingly pushed him down the depth chart to near oblivion. But wherever he gets traded to should not be New England.
Trading away Kendrick Bourne
Along with not trading for a receiver unless they're a game-changer, the Patriots should not even consider moving on from Kendrick Bourne this year.
Some may disagree because he is one of their more valuable players on the offense, and he's playing on the last year of his contract. But he's become an integral part of their offensive success this season, and if they want to continue that, trading Bourne would be a massive mistake.
Besides his absence creating a void they wouldn't be able to fill the rest of the year, the draft pick(s) they would receive in return for Bourne wouldn't be all that valuable. Most analysts have the Patriots trading him for a sixth and/or seventh-round selection, which makes the idea of the scenario even worse.
It's never a bad idea to pile up more draft picks, but when those selections are on day three of the draft, is it really worth getting the deal done, especially when that player's immediate absence will negatively impact your team?
Not to mention, re-signing Bourne next offseason will likely not cost much for the Patriots to do. Although he's been instrumental in many ways during his time in New England, he isn't going to garner a ton of interest from teams willing to pay him top dollar.
Because Belichick will have a lot of cash to play with next year, it makes more sense to re-sign him and build more of the offense around him and rising star Demario Douglas.
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.