A widely held belief about the New England Patriots is that the team will target a wide receiver ahead of the Nov. 4 trade deadline.
It makes sense, as the Patriots should be doing whatever they can to support Drake Maye, who appears to be taking that next step in 2025.
Stefon Diggs and Kayshon Boutte have been a solid one-two punch, but Diggs is also 31 and may not be around for the long haul and Boutte remains mostly unproven and there's no telling if he'll be able to keep up his current pace.
If you're one of the Patriots fans out there who wants to see New England make a deal for a wide receiver, don't hold your breath.
NFL Network's Tom Pelissero recently hosted "The Rich Eisen Show" and said that he is not hearing the Patriots are trying to make a move for a wide receiver.
Instead, he mentioned edge rusher and running back as the team's likely focus.
“Based on what I know, I don’t believe that that’s a target," Pelissero said of a wide receiver trade. "Anything’s possible, but I would view running back, I'd probably view edge, those as more pressing needs.”
Why does Pelissero believe the Pats won't target a wide receiver? Well, he points out the aforementioned success that Diggs and Boutte are having.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler noted in his weekly NFL buzz article that the Patriots are believed to be looking for a running back, so that tracks with what Pelissero is saying here.
And that makes sense considering the season-ending injury to Antonio Gibson, the fumbling issues of Rhamondre Stevenson and the Pats' apparent lack of trust in TreVeyon Henderson.
Just about every team is looking for edge rusher help, so no surprise there. The Pats are also a middle-of-the-road team when it comes to sacks, so that only further adds ammunition to the idea they could target an edge rusher.
More NFL News
- Cowboys, 49ers suggested as possible trade partners for 81-sack EDGE
- Giants trade rumor from SNY says New York is 'big-game hunting'
- Eagles trade rumor from ESPN sheds light on Philly's deadline plans
- Puka Nacua's Week 7 outlook gets troubling update amid injury
- Raiders rumor from ESPN puts spotlight on LV's top trade candidate