The 2023 NFL Trade Deadline came and went, and the New England Patriots stood pat.
The Patriots weren’t the only ones to stand on their toes on the deadlines, as Montez Sweat, Joshua Dobbs, Ezra Cleveland, Chase Young, Ezra Cleveland, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and Rasaul Douglas were the only players dealt on Tuesday.
Still, that doesn’t mean that there wasn’t interest from other teams in New England’s players. At the bottom of the AFC East, the 2-6 Patriots stand to make a lot of changes this offseason and perhaps could have jumpstarted that by adding draft capital at the deadline. But alas, they decided to move on from some notable players.
“The Patriots listened, but are hanging on to young contract-year guys Josh Uche, Kyle Dugger, and Mike Onwenu,” Sports Illustarted’s Albert Breer wrote on Twitter/X. “Also, I’m told they never got any calls on QB Mac Jones or RB Zeke Elliott.”
While that last part doesn’t exactly come as a surprise, neither does the team’s unwillingness to budge on its asking price for Uche. According to Mia O’Brien, a sports anchor/multimedia journalist (MMJ) for First Coast News in Jacksonville, Florida, a stalemate over the draft compensation for Uche between the Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars ensued.
New England wanted a fourth-round pick for the 25-year-old Uche, while Jakcnsoville was only willing to give up a fifth. So, no deal was made despite the Jaguars need for a pass-rusher.
The NFL world was quick to react to the news that the New England Patriots would be standing pat at this year’s trading deadline.
It remains to be seen how New England will fare moving forward, especially now that the team that’s four games under .500 is largely unchanged.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.