Patriots trade rumors from The Athletic give insight into New England’s deadline plans

There have been rumors and speculation about what the New England Patriots might do before the November 4 trade deadline and Dianna Russini of The Athletic is just the latest to weigh in.

The Pats were expected to target a running back trade, which ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported.

This makes sense considering the Pats are missing Antonio Gibson for the rest of the season and Rhamondre Stevenson can’t hold down the football and the team clearly doesn’t trust TreVeyon Henderson yet.

However, Russini doesn’t believe the Pats are in the market for a running back, from what she’s hearing.

“I don’t think they’re moving (at running back),” Russini said on the Next Pats podcast. “The teams I’ve talked to that are trying to move their running backs haven’t gotten calls from New England.”

“Of course, that could change,” she said. “But I think they would have been ahead of the game on that. I think if they felt what the fans felt about the running back’s play, (they would have made the calls).”

There has been a lot of speculation about the Philadelphia Eagles trading AJ Brown due to the obvious dysfunction there in Philadelphia.

This could be a trade the Patriots are interested in considering they could need more help at the wide receiver position, especially a true No. 1 like Brown.

Although Russini thinks the Pats would call the Eagles about a trade for Brown, she doesn’t expect Philly to move its best player.

“I can tell you Philadelphia is telling teams they’re not going to move him,” Russini said of Brown. “It’s not. Because the teams called.”

“We have to see how it plays out, but I can tell you New England has to keep an eye on it,” she said of New England and a possible Brown trade. “They’ll call just to see, because you don’t know.”

Instead of focusing on running back or wide receiver like many think, Russini believes cornerback and edge rusher are where New England will ultimately make a move.

“For me, it’s a defense,” she said. “If New England were to pick up the phone and make a move, it would be on the defensive side of the ball. Unfortunately, passers and corners, supply and demand, every team appeals to that.”

The Pats have been a middling unit when it comes to taking down the quarterback, with the team having 13 sacks in six games. This needs to improve if New England wants to unseat Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills.

New England is already in good shape at cornerback with starters Carlton Davis and Christian Gonzalez, so we don’t envision a big move there, if at all.

More NFL news