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Zero teams in the NFL have a better record than the New England Patriots. One might assume, then, that the team might have been inspired to wheel and deal before Tuesday's deadline in an effort to bolster the roster and take advantage at this earlier-than-anticipated rise to playoff viability. Alas, the New England front office didn't do a thing. The Pats stood pat. On the Patriots Talk Podcast, neither Tom E. Curran or Phil Perry liked seeing the Patriots fail to add to their roster. "I'm not saying they're punting on the season but I don't like looking at your standing right now and not being aggressive and not trying to capitalize on where you are," Perry said. Curran suggested that the Patriots -- from Mike Vrabel to Ryan Cowden to the rest of the personnel department -- might have been stuck in "building" mode while perhaps not seeing the current opportunity for what it is. "Mike has been so open about wanting to build things 'the right way,'" Curran said. "They're way ahead of schedule, but as far as they're concerned, they can still see the rebar in the foundation. I mean, they're still working on it. 2024 was all about foundation. And I just look at it and they're further along, I think, than they maybe are giving themselves credit for." The prices weren't exorbitantly high Two receivers of note moved on deadline day. Jakobi Meyers went from Las Vegas to Jacksonville, with the Jaguars giving a fourth- and sixth-round pick to the Raiders. Rashid Shaheed went from New Orleans to Seattle, costing the Seahawks a fourth and a fifth. Curran and Perry agreed that even if the Patriots are valuing their draft picks, these prices were not above and beyond what should have been conisdered reasonable. "To me, I end up finding myself saying, 'What's the BFD, huh?' What's the big flipping deal? You have so many draft picks," Curran said. "You have so many picks. You're not getting held up by any team asking for a sixth-rounder for an edge rusher, even if it's just for a rental. I don't understand why it's so difficult for the Patriots to part with those." Perry noted that while the Patriots may be "planning" to continue to build through the draft, there's certainly no guarantee that a couple of day-three picks will work out the way they hope. "[The Patriots could have said] let's try to make the most of this season, because these opportunities do not come around all that often," Perry said. "Even if your plan, your blueprint, your pie-in-the-sky thoughts about how this thing should go has you in the mix every single year, I don't think parting with a fourth or a sixth or both, for example, would necessarily take you out of the running to accomplish your goals." Perry added: "I think falling in love with [day-three picks] is not a great idea typically. Like a fourth and a sixth -- are we talking Javon Baker and Bryce Baringer or Javon Baker and Ameer Speed was taken in the sixth round a couple years ago? For the most part, those picks don't work out. They don't work out." The 'vibes' would've been fine With seemingly everything working out for the Patriots this season, there could have been a real consideration of not making any moves to disrupt the vibes of the team. Perry pushed back on that idea. "I look at that potential -- the potential for ruining the vibes -- and I would say number one, the vibes are a byproduct of your success on the field," Perry said. "Really and truly, number one. What Mike Vrabel's done in training camp and leading up to the season was huge in terms of establishing it, but the vibes would not be great if they were 2-7 as opposed to 7-2. And so if you can get somebody who contributes to winning moving forward for this season, that to me shouldn't kill the vibes, number one." Perry also posed a question on the culture if it was indeed a reason to not make a trade: "If you feel so strongly about your culture and you love where it is right now, how strong is it if one addition or two additions really rattles the cage so much that you think it might alter the course of your season?" The best-laid plans aren't always the best plans Clearly, the Patriots to utilize their enormous draft capital and significant salary cap space to build the roster in the offseason. And while that's a fine plan, Curran made the case that such a path could have been altered, given the current scenario. To make that case, Curran noted that the Patriots didn't want Will Campbell to be their left tackle and didn't want Stefon Diggs to be their No. 1 receiver. The team pursued Ronnie Stanley in free agency as well as Chris Godwin (while entertaining trade talks for D.K. Metcalf and Terry McLaurin) and eventually "settled" on Campbell and Diggs, both of whom are playing major roles in this 7-2 season. "So, how's that worked out? Great," Curran said. A missed opportunity for New England Curran's final takeaway is that even if the Patriots aren't a true Super Bowl contender, the deadline offered an opportunity to win more games this year with the thin roster in New England. "I didn't want the Patriots to go and get somebody that was going to help them win a game in February in San Francisco. I didn't think that was the reason they should do it," Curran explained. "I think that they needed to get somebody that prevents them from losing a game to say, the Jets, the Dolphins, some team they shouldn't lose to down the stretch if they suffer an injury." Perry took it one step further. "Try to make a run. Try to make a run. You're 7-2," Perry said. "Like, Rashid Shaheed is not putting you over the top and and and making you a Super Bowl champion. I agree with that. But I think having as good a season as you can have has a ton of value, especially for your young quarterback. Get him that experience now if you can at a cost-effective sort of price, which in my opinion, is what it was to acquire a receiver who could help you. That to me has real value. "Just make this season as worthwhile as humanly possible without sacrificing your chances for the future. And to me, parting with a fourth-round pick and a fifth or a sixth, that to me is not sacrificing what you have planned to build here for a long time."
