Many expected the New England Patriots to be sellers by the trade deadline.
It made all of the sense in the world from a team-building perspective. The Patriots are 2-6 with likely no hope of contending in the AFC East division or even earning a playoff spot.
They have a poorly constructed roster, particularly on the offensive side that could use a significant reboot. Why not trade off expiring contracts of players, such as Josh Uche, Kyle Dugger and Mike Onwenu and rebuild the team accordingly?
Well, it takes two teams to make a trade. The Patriots could be considering bringing those players back in the offseason, and maybe they felt like there weren’t big enough offers out there to move some of their key players. There’s also the possibility that coach Bill Belichick doesn’t want to be in the business of tanking.
He’s going to try to save face by winning as many games as possible this season. The Patriots would rather go down fighting than abandon the sinking ship.
Of course, that isn’t sitting well with the hordes of fans growing impatient from what’s on pace to be the worst season in the Belichick era. Here’s what fans on Twitter were saying about the team’s decision to sit pat at the trade deadline: