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We're less than one week from the Nov. 4 NFL trade deadline and the Patriots have sprung into action. The Patriots made a pair of reported deals Tuesday night, sending Keion White to the 49ers and Kyle Dugger to the Steelers. The obvious question now: Who might they trade for? As expected, we fielded plenty of trade-themed questions in our final Mailbag before next Tuesday's deadline. Let's dive in. Editor's Note: Some questions have been lightly edited for clarity. MORE PATRIOTS COVERAGE What’s one move (or is there even one move) that can really put this year’s team over the top? - @kylemarsden441 Hey, Kyle. I think if you look at the premium positions on the roster, there's one spot that stands out among the rest as needing an infusion of talent: outside linebacker. The Patriots have had Harold Landry and K'Lavon Chaisson provide productive snaps there throughout the first eight weeks of the season. Both Chaisson (27) and Landry (23) rank in the top 20 among linebackers in pressures this season, per NextGen Stats. But next up on the depth chart are veteran Anfernee Jennings and undrafted rookie Elijah Ponder. Jahlani Tavai has the versatility to play at the end of the line as well as off the ball. Still, the Patriots could use another piece here -- especially as insurance should one of their top two ever have to miss time. As a team, even with defensive tackles Milton Williams and Christian Barmore playing well, they currently rank 26th in pressure percentage, per Pro Football Reference. If there are edge pieces available via trade, adding one with starting-level talent could move the needle more than any other position, in my opinion. It's unclear as to whether or not the Dolphins would be willing to move Jaelan Phillips or Bradley Chubb within the division, but those would qualify as impactful moves. Obviously if the Raiders could ever be encouraged to deal away Maxx Crosby, he'd fall into a tier all his own as a pie-in-the-sky acquisition. In terms of points allowed (No. 4, 18.3 per game) and rushing defense (No. 2, 76.0 yards per game), the Patriots have been stout. But making a move to bolster the edge of their front could elevate their defense (which ranks 28th in defensive DVOA due in part to some of the competition they've faced) to a point where they have a widely-feared unit. Keion White and a draft pick for Tony Pollard! - @paulincape Paul, you were on the money in terms of Keion White being a trade candidate. The compensation, however, ended up being much less than what you suggested. They basically moved up from the seventh round into the sixth round by dealing away a player they had considered taking in the first round just a few years ago. I was told at the time that one of the reasons the Patriots felt comfortable trading down in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft was because they liked both Christian Gonzalez and Keion White, and they felt good about one or the other still being there for them after sliding back on Day 1. It turned out that both were there for them after that trade, and then White remained there for them in the first half of the second round. You could understand why the Patriots may have felt so strongly about White at the time. His size (6-foot-5, 285 pounds), strength and athleticism made him a rare physical specimen. He simply was not able to put it together in either Bill Belichick/Jerod Mayo or Mike Vrabel's schemes consistently. Before this season, White was viewed by the Patriots as maybe a more physically-gifted version of Trey Flowers, who had tremendous production as an inside/outside option on the line during the team's run to Super Bowls in 2016 and 2018. This year, the Patriots focused White's efforts on the edge in order to try to get more out of him. Just didn't happen. He had one sack in his last 15 games last season after five to start the year in Weeks 1 and 2. Now White gets a fresh start, a chance to work with a highly-regarded coaching staff in San Francisco, and a chance to maybe get back to being the versatile defensive line he was expected to be in New England. What will the return be for Kyle Dugger and Keion White if they are traded? I believe they will be. - @Jfmastrangelo Both ended up being salary dumps, which you've seen by now, John. And neither was all that surprising. The Patriots considered moving off Kyle Dugger throughout the summer, deeming him a tough fit in their defensive scheme. In Vrabel's scheme, safeties have to be able to play a lot of man coverage, and that's an area where Dugger has struggled. Though he's given them serviceable play there during the regular season -- he filled in for an injured Jaylinn Hawkins earlier this year -- it made sense for them to get whatever value they could for him, although it wasn't much, especially considering they had to eat some of his salary to help facilitate a deal with the Steelers. If the Patriots are looking to strengthen the offense before the deadline should a TE be the area to focus on say a David Njoku who is in the last year of his deal? That room seems quite thin and Henry isn’t the greatest blocker either. - @kieranb81 Our buddy Tom E. Curran has been banging the drum for more tight end depth, and I could see that being a possibility, depending on who's available. These positions feel like higher priorities, however: edge defender, running back, safety, wide receiver. The Patriots did just recently buttress their running back room with some practice-squad additions. Terrell Jennings has been added to the active roster, and two more players at the positions have been signed to their practice squad: undrafted rookie Rushawn Baker and veteran Jonathan Ward. At safety, the Patriots have added rookie John Saunders off the Miami practice squad, per ESPN, which could mitigate whatever need they perceived there behind Jaylinn Hawkins and rookie Craig Woodson. The receiver room has been productive and well-balanced over the course of the year. Could the Patriots add a high-end talent to try to boost the overall explosiveness of the unit? Would they consider adding more of a possession wideout to protect an injury to Stefon Diggs? Because this team has performed so well, and because the rest of the AFC seems to be relatively open, it'll be fascinating to see how aggressive Vrabel and the Patriots front office choose to be. There's an opportunity there for them to make a push to improve their roster, but they also know this is the first year of a new regime that is trying to build something sustainable. Will they be willing to part with draft capital in pursuit of better outcomes in Year 1? If Myles Garrett has a price, should the Patriots pay it? - @qualitysmoke I don't think it's happening, QS. But even if it did, I think you'd be talking about multiple first-rounders. As great as Garrett is, I'm not sure the Patriots should be willing to do that at this point. They still need to hit on their draft picks, particularly their early ones, if they want to give this rebuild another shot in the arm and have something sustainable around Drake Maye for the foreseeable future. For all the talk about deadline acquisitions, no one seems to mention our offensive line depth. If either tackle goes down, are we really comfortable with the backups? - @StephenAn3 It's a fair point, Steve. Marcus Bryant, a seventh-round rookie out of Missouri, would likely be their backup at left and right tackle. He had an impressive summer, using his length and power to displace rushers in joint practices with the Commanders and Vikings. The SMU transfer played left tackle at Missouri -- part of the reason why first-round pick Armand Membou stayed on the right side for the Tigers -- but he's played on the right side in high school and in practices with the Patriots filling in at times for veteran Morgan Moses. There just aren't a whole lot of capable tackles available via trade at this point in the year. It's a hard enough position to find as it is, and then when you factor in in-season injuries, it makes having those positions stocked securely even more difficult. If there's someone out there the Patriots have identified, who's also a legitimate trade candidate? Go for it. No team should ever say no to more tackle help. It's just hard to find. Since Drake Maye is good at extending plays and benefits from pocket time to throw deep, would drafting another offensive lineman in the first round be a smart decision to maximize Drake’s talent? - @BostAngeles Never a bad idea to build through the trenches, Kevin. Will they move Jared Wilson over to center in his second season, leaving them with an opening to fill at guard? When Drake Maye has had time to throw -- whether that's from a clean pocket or time he's bought for himself with his mobility -- he's been dynamite. On passes that travel at least 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, he's first in yards (1,156), completion percentage (67.5), completion percentage over expected (+17.1) and EPA (+75.6). On Next Pats, we've highlighted a number of different linemen who could be fits for the Patriots in the 2026 draft, including Utah's Spencer Fano, Miami's Francis Mauigoa, Alabama's Kadyn Proctor and Texas A&M's Trey Zuhn III. Given his current contract, how many players in the league would you trade Drake Maye for straight up? Or is he the most valuable player in the league right now? - @NicChad I think he's the first-half MVP of the league, and you could make the case that the number of players for whom you'd trade Maye would be miniscule. At 23 years old, on a rookie contract, with eye-popping levels of efficiency through eight games in a new offensive system -- and yet still with clear and obvious ways in which his game could improve -- there's a lot to like with Maye. Understanding there's a certain level of uncertainty that hovers over all players, especially a quarterback who has been prone to taking hits in the open field over the course of his first two seasons, I think it's safe to say in response to this hypothetical that you'd be willing to deal Maye only for a handful of established superstars. My opinion? My list would be two players long: Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. Maye's career runway should be longer than theirs, and his salary is such that in the next 12 months, the Patriots have an opportunity to work toward fast-tracking their rebuild to surround him with talent. If you'd like to make the argument that there's no quarterback you'd rather have for the next decade? I'm not going to stop you. It's remarkable that he's played well enough to even entertain fantasy-land discussions like this one. As high as I was on him prior to the 2024 draft, even I thought it would be by the end of Year 3 when he would establish himself as one of the best in the league. He beat that timeline handily. Drake Maye - @Taco_Stevep You said it, Taco Steve.
