Patriots miss opportunity to trade receiver before his eventual release

After a forgettable first season with the Patriots in 2023, the assumption was that wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster would need to compete for a spot on the roster for the following season. If he could put together and impressive spring and summer of practices, then he would surely secure a spot on the team.

Based on his health update and a few flashy moments on the practice field, things looked like things could go that way. But after a few weeks of training camp, it was clear that Smith-Schuster would not be the player the Patriots needed him to be.

There was talk about potentially trading him, despite the knee injury that likely scared off many teams when he was a free agent last offseason. However, the new regime either didn't attempt to trade him or didn't receive much interest from teams around the league, leading to his eventual release.

He remained unsigned until Monday morning when NFL insiders revealed that Smith-Schuster was returning to his former team for the 2024 season. He will re-join Patrick Mahomes on the Chiefs and hope to win another Super Bowl in Kansas City.

And that's where questions start to arise regarding the Patriots' effort of shipping him off for somewhat of a return before releasing him.

The Patriots should have tried trading JuJu Smith-Schuster to the Chiefs before releasing him

Although it took a couple of weeks for Smith-Schuster to find a new home, it seems like the Patriots missed their opportunity to trade the receiver and get a bit of a return on their investment regardless of what that might have been.

Even if they had been offered a sixth or seventh-rounder, that could become reliable draft capital for a team hoping to build a young roster through the draft. It could also be used in future trades, which is even more valuable for the Patriots right now.

Perhaps they did explore possible trades, even though nothing about any such conversations have been reported, and nothing came of it. In that case, you can't blame them for just moving on instead.

However, Smith-Schuster's name still holds some weight, and he was only one season removed from a productive year with the Chiefs, proving that 2023 was likely a result of the entire Patriots offense being a total disaster. It would seem as though teams would still inquire about trading for him, even if it were just for a late-round pick.

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