FOXBORO — The 2-5 Patriots are a popular team ahead of next week’s NFL trade deadline.
The Patriots have received calls on many of their impending unrestricted free agents, a source said. The Patriots’ top UFAs next offseason are left tackle Trent Brown, tight end Hunter Henry, wide receiver Kendrick Bourne and members of the 2020 NFL Draft class: safety Kyle Dugger, offensive lineman Mike Onwenu and edge defender Josh Uche.
Sources polled last week believe the Patriots could get a Day 2 draft pick in exchange for Dugger or Uche.
As for the likelihood of a deal, one source said “one trade is definitely possible” but it would be a surprise if there was more than that.
Head coach Bill Belichick wasn’t interested in diving deep into the Oct. 31 trade deadline during Friday morning’s news conference.
“Yeah, we’re just focused on Miami right now,” Belichick said. “(Director of player personnel) Matt (Groh) and his staff, if there’s something to talk about, I’m sure we’ll talk about it.”
Belichick was asked if he was checking in with Groh regularly.
“Matt’s office is 30 feet away,” he said. “If we need to see each other, we’ll see each other. If something comes up about anything, yeah.”
Belichick wouldn’t say that the Patriots would only consider trading a player in the final year of his deal.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of factors involved with players’ contracts,” Belichick said. “Everyone’s different, so I don’t think there’s any specific rule.”
Belichick didn’t single out any players but did say they’ve talked to some of their impending free agents about extensions.
“Yeah, we’ve talked to a number of players,” he said. “The one’s that we’ve reached an agreement with, we’ve reached an agreement with. The ones we haven’t, we haven’t.”
Wide receiver DeVante Parker and linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley have been signed to extensions.
The Patriots are set to have the most cap space in the NFL next offseason, meaning they’ll likely be heavily involved in free agency. Many times, if the Patriots lose a player in free agency, they’ll receive a compensatory draft pick in exchange. But compensatory picks are determined by a formula dependent on how many players a team gains and loses in free agency. So, if the Patriots are planning to sign more free agents than they’ll lose, then they likely wouldn’t receive comp picks for the players they lose. That could influence them to trade a player now to get something in return.
“Well yeah, it has some relevance,” Belichick said of the comp pick formula ahead of the deadline.
The Patriots would have to swing a trade by Halloween at 4 p.m. ET.
