Bill Belichick has never shied away from the trade market. At the NFL trade deadline, he has made plenty of moves, with a few panning out nicely for the New England Patriots in past postseason runs.
Will the Patriots be active ahead of the 2021 deadline, which is set for Nov. 2 at 4 p.m. ET?
After trading for success stories like Kyle Van Noy, Aqib Talib, Akiem Hicks and Akeem Ayers and trade busts Mo Sanu and Michael Bennett, Belichick and his personnel staff, currently led by director of player personnel Dave Zeigler, tend to spend these days speaking with teams to explore what’s out there. Some years, the Patriots do nothing. Last year, the Patriots added receiver Isaiah Ford, who the team cut a few weeks later. But it sounds like the Patriots, who have at least one player (N’Keal Harry) who has requested a trade, are tapped into the market, like always.
“This is the time of year where personnel departments always communicate with each other and we certainly have had probably the normal amount of communication with other teams, whether they have an interest in a player or want to exchange a player or maybe they have somebody that they’re looking to (trade) if the right opportunity was there,” Belichick said Monday.
Belichick said he’s had countless deals fall apart, even after days or weeks of discussion. The coach said injuries can lead to teams feeling they need a player who they’d originally explored trading. Teams can also just admit at the deadline that they’re fed up with a player and simply want to move him and, as Belichick said, “the price is right.” There’s also the element of winning — or losing — in Week 8, which could impact the team’s mindset on whether they think they can make the playoffs.
“We’ll just see what happens,” Belichick said. “Honestly I’m not too worried about that. I think Dave Ziegler and his staff, they have most of the communications on that. They keep me informed if there’s something that looks like it might be moving, or moving slowly in a direction.”
New England already traded for cornerback Shaun Wade before the season started. The Patriots also traded away cornerback Stephon Gilmore a few weeks again, a much-maligned deal for New England.