Patriots News: Kayshon Boutte, Mac Jones, Josh Uche, and Chase Young

Bill Belichick had "advanced talks" about trading Josh Uche

One of the few players on the Patriots roster this season who garnered interest from teams inquiring about a trade was linebacker Josh Uche. As one of the more valuable players on the defense, he was expected to be traded before the deadline on Tuesday afternoon.

Although that didn't happen, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer revealed the team had "advanced talks" with some teams regarding a trade, they just never came to fruition.

"The lukewarm interest at that level won’t help the Patriots move Josh Uche, either. Though New England has had advanced talks on an Uche trade with a couple of teams over the past few weeks (Uche’s injury does make things more complicated now). New England has also had interest in safety Kyle Dugger."

Now that the deadline has come and gone, no reason has been given why no deal was made between any teams that had made calls to New England. It could be due to Uche's lingering injury, which Breer noted. Or it could be due to Belichick hoping for a higher draft pick in return, which seemed to be wishful thinking after seeing Chase Young moved for just a third-round pick.

For a more optimistic spin, another explanation for Uche remaining a Patriot could be that he's considered more valuable on the team than not, something that maybe deterred Belichick from shipping him off for basically any return.

Even if that's not the case, re-signing him should be considered since most players on rookie contracts have not received an extension in the last five years. Not retaining young players makes it much more difficult to build a team, making it wiser to keep Uche until re-signing him becomes a priority.