3 needs New England Patriots must address ahead of NFL trade deadline

The New England Patriots have never been in a position as underwhelming as this for many years. They did eke out a victory against the Buffalo Bills last weekend but sit at the bottom of the pile in the AFC East with a 2-5 record. There are needs all over the roster that need to be addressed and they can aim to correct some of the issues before the trade deadline at the end of this month.

There is another school of thought that they should give up on this season and look towards the 2024 NFL draft to rebuild their roster. In such a case, they ought to become a selling team by giving their most marketable players to other teams in exchange for draft picks.

But given that this may well be Bill Belichick's last season, one envisages them looking to make a final stand. If they go down this route, here are some of the needs they need to address immediately. Unsurprisingly, all of the major requirements that were identified are on the offensive side of the ball:

New England Patriots needs ahead of trade deadline

#1 - Quarterback

When Tom Brady ruled the NFL for 20 years, this was the last thing the Patriots worried about. However, that era is well and truly over. Mac Jones has not been the successor they had hoped for. This season he has seven touchdowns and seven interceptions for an 81.8 passer rating. The game against the Buffalo Bills was the first time this season he had a passer rating above 100 and threw multiple touchdowns without a single interception.

Their other quarterbacks are nothing to speak of either. Bill Belichick clearly does not have confidence in Bailey Zappe and the latest kerfuffle involving Malik Cunningham being waived after being offered a contract shows acute levels of dysfunction. Moreover, all the quarterbacks they have are young and untested.

Many great quarterbacks in the league have benefited from sitting behind and observing good starters ahead of them. Whether that is Tom Brady and Drew Bledsoe or Patrick Mahomes and Alex Smith, sitting behind a veteran has its benefits. One could say that tanking for Caleb Williams might be a strategy but even then they would still be stuck with a quarterback room without NFL experience.

In such a case, getting someone like Kirk Cousins from the Minnesota Vikings might not be the worst idea. He is out of contract after this season and his current team may look to move on from him given he is above 35 years old. He too might be looking for a final flourish in his NFL career.

He has 16 passing touchdowns this season, which is the highest in the league, even though Minnesota's standing does not reflect that. Getting someone like him will allow the Patriots to have a strong starter for a couple of years behind whom their young quarterbacks can learn the game, whether it be Jones, Zappe or Williams.

It is the approach the Green Bay Packers perfected with Aaron Rodgers sitting behind Brett Favre and one the New York Jets are doing with Zach Wilson behind Rodgers now. Maybe the New England Patriots can look to replicate that.

#2 - Wide receiver

Before this week's win, the New England Patriots lost to the Las Vegas Raiders. A perfectly thrown spiral from Mac Jones was dropped in the closing stages of the game by DeVante Parker. It was emblematic of the lack of proper receiving options in their ranks. Prior to the season, they were thought to be in the running for DeAndre Hopkins, only for the Tennessee Titans to steal a march on them.

Hopkins could be available again before the trade deadline as the Titans have indicated that they want to build for the future and are willing to let other teams strip their assets. But getting a veteran wide receiver in his mold will help someone like Mac Jones make plays knowing he has elite tools that can help him.

Right now, the Patriots are averaging 208.9 passing yards per game, which is towards the bottom half of the league. Getting a premier wide receiver can help them open up other defenses and relieve some pressure on their defense.

#3 - Offensive Tackle

The offensive tackle position is perhaps the most glaring need for the New England Patriots even now. It has been an Achilles heel for the organization for some time now and has an effect on both the passing and the running game. Trent Brown is among the best left tackles in the game when healthy but he has had his injury issues in the past and was shaken up in the win against the Bills.

The right tackle position is even worse off and they have no long-term solution there. The Patriots could have addressed this issue in this year's draft but went towards Christian Gonzalez to meet their cornerback needs.

In a vacuum, one would say that this is the first position that needs to be corrected but we put it bottom of our list because the 2024 NFL draft has a deep class of tackles that the Patriots could wait for. However, if they do not want to go down that route and draft another position instead as they did last time, then they must correct this issue right now.